Poway High has been offering football since 1961, but never during that span had the Titans scored 54 points in a game.

Until last night.

Jumping to a 22-0 lead, the defending Division I champions rode a three-touchdown, 178-yard rushing game from Nick Ricciardulli to run their winning streak to 13 with a 54-41 victory over host Scripps Ranch in the season opener for both teams.

Despite running the table last year, the Titans could not crack the Top 10 to start this season because 34 players graduated and Ricciardulli was one of the few returning starters.

“We read where we weren't even in the Top 10 and picked to finish fourth in the league,” said Ricciardulli, who carried 25 times. “We didn't get any respect.”

While Ricciardulli acknowledged that he understood the preseason doubts, he knew better.

“Scoring 54 points didn't surprise me. We have a lot of good players,” he said. “We could be an even better team than last year.”

It didn't take the 5-foot-7, 166-pound senior long to make his mark as he scored the game's first touchdown – a 7-yard run – before adding scoring runs of 13 and 2 yards.

As if the 178 yards wasn't impressive enough, he added another 60 yards in kick returns as well as scoring a 2-point conversion.

And he wasn't the only Titans offensive standout.

Conor Ulshoffer added 94 rushing yards on just 11 carries, including TD runs of 17 and 7 yards while junior quarterback Stu Bell went 7-for-7 for 150 yards including twin touchdown tosses of 36 yards to Steven Reed and Brett Thomas.

Despite the slow start, Scripps Ranch kept clawing back behind quarterback Robert 'Tate' Forcier, who announced earlier this week he was accepting a scholarship to Michigan.

The Wolverines had to be pleased with Forcier's numbers as he completed 19-of-32 for 269 yards and a touchdown of 70 yards to speedy Todd Herrod to complete the game's scoring. He also rushed for 81 yards, including 18-, 6-and 1-yard scoring dashes.

His favorite target was Brenan Clay, who caught 9 for 98 yards.

“Scoring 41 points was an obvious plus,” said Scripps Ranch coach Sergio Diaz. “We played hard, we kept trying to score, even though we fell behind early.

“They were a step ahead of us all night, taking advantage of our young defense. But that's a good team, too, and we knew we have a lot of work to do.”