Little Lompoc High opens season with wins over two larger schools

Score two for the little guys.

Lompoc (enrollment 1,424) has collected back-to-back victories over Arroyo Grande (2,173) and Santa Maria Pioneer Valley (2,622) to open the season.

Making the Braves’ triumphs all the more impressive is that they came on the road.

“We’re just up for the challenge,” Lompoc Coach Andrew Jones said Saturday. “We’re down here in a little valley, and we’re willing to play anybody.”

Suiting up only 41 players Friday, the Braves resembled the bully in the first half of a 24-17 overtime victory against Pioneer Valley. Lompoc held the Panthers to 34 yards while building a 17-0 lead.

Pioneer Valley stormed back to tie the score and sent the game into overtime when it blocked a 25-yard field goal attempt with five seconds left in regulation.

But tailback Taylor Cornejo scored on Lompoc’s first possession of the extra period, and the Braves’ defense held the Panthers to secure the victory.

Up next for Lompoc are two more giants, both at home. The Braves play host to Santa Barbara, which has an enrollment of 2,071, on Friday, followed by Goleta Dos Pueblos (2,271) on Sept. 23.

“I’m not worried about the small-school-big-school thing,” said Jones, whose team is the defending Northwest Division champion. “We’ve got a good team and a good thing going.”

A familiar voice

You might be able to guess which longtime Southland broadcaster called Sherman Oaks Notre Dame’s 17-14 victory in overtime against Valencia based on some of his opening remarks:

“Notre Dame, in Sherman Oaks, was founded in 1947 as an all-boys school after the land here at Riverside and Woodland was purchased two years before for $45,000,” he said. “When the school opened, there were five faculty members and 125 boys.

“Notre Dame went coeducational in 1983. Today, Notre Dame has an enrollment of 1,200 students, and 99% of their graduates go to college.”

Still puzzled?

Here’s another hint: He was once known for telling listeners tidbits such as the Dodgers’ road record on Tuesdays when it rained.

The eminently prepared Ross Porter is back. Seven years after his 28th and final season with the Dodgers, Porter, 72, is doing high school football play-by-play for iBN Sports, which streams games live over the Internet.

Posthumous honor

Fremont dedicated its newly renovated football field in honor of Ricky Bell, the former Pathfinder running back who went on to star for USC and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers before his death from heart failure in 1984.

Bell’s No. 00 jersey was retired during a ceremony attended by his brother, Nathan Moore, other family members and community dignitaries. Jefferson defeated Fremont, 35-10.

Three and out

Odd stat of the week: Rialto led La Quinta, 13-12, at halftime of an eventual 27-24 victory despite being outgained in yardage, 156 to minus three. The Knights scored in the first half on a blocked punt and a one-yard run.... Los Angeles Cathedral quarterback Hayden Rettig broke a 14-year-old school record for passing yardage Friday during the Phantoms’ 52-36 victory over Wilmington Banning by completing 30 of 47 passes for 530 yards with six touchdowns and one interception. Rettig is the younger brother of Boston College quarterback Chase Rettig.... Arleta’s Dejon Coleman scored six touchdowns and amassed 456 all-purpose yards during a 56-42 victory over Marshall, making Coach Dan Kelley a winner in his first game with the Mustangs.

ben.bolch@latimes.com