Nordhoff High's football team held on to the ball and dominated host Santa Paula 38-0 on a soggy Jones Field Friday night in the Tri-Valley League opener.

The Rangers took the opening kickoff and drove 80 yards on eight plays to trigger the rout and spoil Santa Paula's homecoming.

Albert Mireles opened the scoring with a 6-yard run and David Brown booted five PATs and added a 43-yard field goal to highlight a 24-0 cushion at intermission.

Nordhoff (3-2-1, 1-0-0) didn't allow Santa Paula (4-2, 0-1) a first down until the fourth quarter.

Santa Paula fumbled seven times. Steven Sharp also had an interception, his second in two games for the Rangers.

Coach Cliff Farrar's team adapted quickly to the weather and controlled the game with a punishing ground attack.

"We're just a little quicker," said Farrar. "On defense, we have guys who can flow to the ball."

Santa Paula had only 41 yards total offense.

"It was a horrible offensive performance," said Santa Paula coach Eddie Gomez. "We put our defense into bad field positions."

Garrett Graham completed two passes early in the game for 64 yards and let the Rangers running game take over. Mireles caught the two passes.

Long-time Ventura County referee and coach Cal Houston was on hand to watch his great grandson Graham run the Nordhoff offense. A number of Houston's friends were on hand to watch the game.

Farrar was proud of the way his team responded.

"Our kids did a great job of hanging onto the ball," he said.

Farrar also praised Mike Rodriguez, the defensive coordinator, as Nordhoff allowed only 21 yards of offense in the first half.

Graham scored on a 1-yard run with 10:41 left in the second quarter to make it 14-0.

After Sharp's interception, Brown connected on a 43-yard field goal with 2:55 left to make it 17-0. Chris Gibson scored on a 31-yard run with 21 seconds left to increase the lead to 24-0.

In the third quarter, Damian Kaiser scored on runs of 7 and 3 yards for the final points.

Nordhoff rushed for 209 yards. Gibson had 95 yards on 14 carries. Kaiser added 57 yards on 13 carries. Mireles rushed for 31 yards on seven attempts.

Santa Paula's Joseph Camacho finished with three carries for 33 yards. Quinn Pawlick attempted only one pass and it was intercepted.

Nordhoff hosts Carpinteria next week.