SBART Press Luncheon: SBCC Wins Beach Bowl

SBCC Fall Sports Come to an End

Mekhi Norfleet Powers into the end zone during SBCC's 44-23 victory over College of the Desert. | Credit: Lily Chubb

A dream season for the SBCC football team ended in a resounding victory on Saturday, as the Vaqueros defeated College of the Desert, 44-23, in the Beach Bowl at La Playa Stadium, for their tenth consecutive win.

Brandon Smith was named Offensive Player of the Game after rushing for 200 yards on 25 carries and three touchdowns. He eclipsed 1200 yards on the season and broke several program records, including the single game rushing record.

“Ten wins in a row, that’s difficult to do, especially in football with injuries and just the ups and downs. When you’re winning everybody is out to get you and that’s the way it was Saturday, but the atmosphere created by our athletic director LaDeane Hantsen was fantastic,” said SBCC coach Craig Moropoulos. “It was a different atmosphere and anybody that was there could feel it.”

Brandon Smith rushed for 200 yards in the Beach Bowl. | Credit: Lily Chubb

In addition to Smith, Moropulos brought outside linebacker Ben Boeddeker to Monday’s SBART Press Luncheon as he was a key piece of a dominant defensive unit this season. Amir Brown was named defensive player of the game in the Beach Bowl victory after racking up a team-high 11 tackles.

Athletes of the Week

Andreas Dybdahl was a standout performer at State Cross Country Championships, leading the Dons to an eighth-place finish overall. He came in 25th individually with a time of 15:45.9

It was the first appearance at the state championships for the Santa Barbara High boys cross country team and Dybdahl was named SBART Male Athlete of the Week.

Andreas Dybdahl Santa Barbara High cross country. | Credit: Victor Bryant

The Female Athlete of the Week was Justine Katz of Dos Pueblos basketball after she racked up 23 points, ten rebounds, seven assists and five steals in a 62-26 win over Newbury Park in the Chargers’ season opener.

SBCC Women’s Volleyball

The Vaqueros season concluded in a five-set thriller at the SoCal Regionals Finals. Orange Coast defeated SBCC 26-28, 26-24, 25-20, 18-25, 15-13.

Opposite Caroline McCarty led the way for SBCC with 19 kills against Orange Coast. The Vaqueros finished 16-11 overall and 7-3 in WSC play.

Justine Katz SBART Female Athlete of the Week. | Credit: Victor Bryant

UCSB Women’s Basketball

The Gauchos won a triple overtime thriller at Southern Utah 102-96 on Saturday to improve to 4-1 on the young season. Alexis Tucker poured in a career-high 29 points on 10-of-20 shooting from the field.

UCSB has a huge upcoming week with a game at Loyola Marymount on Wednesday, before hosting UCLA on Saturday at 7 p.m.

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