Central Valley High School varsity football standout Moses Ghiorso fielded a bouncing Livingston punt and raced 77 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter of Friday night's Western Athletic Conference road contest.

Ghiorso found the end zone three more times during the course of the game as the Hawks pulled away for a 42-14 win over the upset-minded Wolves.

"He's fun to coach and watch," Central Valley second-year leader Scott Edwards said.

The Hawks improved to 4-3 overall and 2-1 in the WAC standings.

The Wolves dropped to 1-7 and 0-4.

"We're right in the thick of the race for second place," Edwards said. "We can't afford to look by anybody or make predictions. We have to worry about ourselves and prepare each week like we're playing Patterson."

Central Valley totaled 391 yards of offense on 49 snaps.

The Hawks racked up 359 yards on the ground.

"We didn't have a lot of plays," Edwards said. "We struck fast."

Ghiorso piled up 208 yards and three touchdowns on just 10 attempts.

Moses averaged 20.8 yards per carry.

He also caught one pass for 22 yards.

Jamarea Lumpkin gained 75 yards and scored one touchdown on 14 carries.

Bobby Nieto carried the ball two times for 43 yards and one score.

Jonathan Barragan ran for 36 yards on four carries.

Central Valley sacked Livingston's quarterback seven times.

Adrian Badillo collected 18 tackles and one sack
David Serrano tallied 12 tackles and two sacks.

Erik Mejia totaled 10 tackles one sack.

Estevan Barragan chipped in with 10 tackles and one fumble recovery.

Emani Anitelea had five tackles and one interception.

Alex Alvarado had six tackles and two sacks.

Oso Fregoso had five tackles and one sack.

Central Valley found itself in a tighter-than-expected battle with Livingston in the first half.

The Hawks led 21-7 at the break.

The Wolves sought to pull off an upset in front of their homecoming fans.

"Our defense was playing really solid," Edwards said. "Offensively, we got off to a slow start. We just weren't executing that well. Our energy level was down. I was a little frustrated."

Central Valley outscored Livingston 21-7 during the second half.

"The offensive line was a lot more aggressive," Edwards said.

Ghiorso had another big game for the Hawks. Moses accounted for five touchdowns, four rushing and one receiving, during Central Valley's 42-21 win over Enochs in non-conference play on Sept. 18.

"I've coached some great players at the high-school level," Edwards said. "Moses is right up there. Everybody schemes to stop him and he still produces. It's pretty impressive."

Central Valley's final three opponents are El Capitan, Los Banos and Ceres High.

The Hawks need to win twice to be eligible for playoff consideration.

"El Capitan is a scary team," Edwards said. "Los Banos is good. Ceres High is putting up points. You match up against everybody differently. It's a tough league. We respect all of our opponents. You can't look ahead. It would be disappointing if we didn't make playoffs because of the growth that we made. We're far beyond last year. They trust me and we learn from our mistakes."

El Capitan (2-5, 1-2) will try to spoil Central Valley's homecoming.

The Hawks will play host to the Gauchos on Friday at Ceres High.

The game will get underway at 7 p.m.

"It's going to be a challenge," Edwards said.

Central Valley will compete at full-strength.

"This is the best report we've ever had," Edwards said. "We didn't lose a single player (to poor grades). We gained one."