Santa Ynez senior running back Greyson Foy ignited his team with a 90-yard kickoff return for a touchdown on the first play of the season and Dos Pueblos struggled to put out the fire.
The Chargers quickly fell behind 21-0, and despite a resilient second half, suffered a 43-22 loss on Friday night at Scott O’Leary Stadium.
“From my perspective it was execution issues,” said Dos Pueblos coach AJ Pateras. “For me I look at the big picture. It was the first game, a lot better than we were a year ago replacing key guys and a lot of guys shined and a lot of guys showed they need to continue to get better in practice.”
Dos Pueblos turned the ball over on downs on its first possession of the game, giving Santa Ynez excellent field position at the Chargers’ 48-yard line. 12 plays later Santa Ynez quarterback Jude Pritchard scampered for a 13-yard touchdown run on 3rd-and-11 to put the Pirates ahead 14-0 after a successful extra point with 6:15 remaining in the first quarter.
“We felt like with our returning quarterback and our offense we could get a score on the first drive,” said Santa Ynez coach Josh McClurg. “We felt like starting off early against a team with an inexperienced quarterback they kind of tend to press when that happens.”
After a quick Dos Pueblos three-and-out the Pirates added to their lead with a 15-yard touchdown run by Ayden Finley with 3:48 remaining in the first quarter. A key play on the drive was a 15-yard pass from Pritchard to Finley on 3rd-and-13. A roughing the passer penalty was tacked on to the play, which put Santa Ynez into scoring position.
It appeared that Dos Pueblos would cut into its lead early in the first quarter when Micah Barnhart hauled in a short pass from Drew Schultz and scampered 81 yards to the end zone, but the play was negated due to a hold down field and instead resulted in a 31-yard gain.
On the very next play Dos Pueblos fumbled and Santa Ynez recovered.
“When you’re tired, when you get a strain on you, you have to be a little bit more focused,” Pateras said. “Those are things we have been working on. Those are things these young guys are going to improve and we know they are going to get better.”
Dos Pueblos got on the board with a five-yard touchdown run by Diego Chamu with 42 seconds remaining in the first half, cutting the Chargers’ deficit to 31-7. The short two-play scoring drive was set up by an interception from defensive lineman Finn Mcweeney.
The Chargers were much more sound on both sides of the ball in the second half, outscoring Santa Ynez 15-12 after the break.
“The wheels fell off with our discipline at halftime,” McClurg said. “It started in the second quarter.”
Micah Barnhart scored on a two-yard touchdown run midway through the fourth quarter and sophomore quarterback Grady Felix tossed a 25-yard touchdown pass to Soren Smedley in the final moments.
The Chargers will continue non-league play next week with a home game against Royal.
Bishop Diego, 42; Lancaster 40
The Cardinals denied a Lancaster two-point conversion with under a minute remaining to preserve the lead.
Tua Rojas tossed three touchdown passes and Oscar Mauia added three touchdowns on the ground.
With the victory coach Tom Crawford now has the most wins of any coach in Santa Barbara County history.
Santa Barbara, 21; Camarillo, 14
The Dons jumped out to a 21-0 halftime lead and then held off a late comeback in the fourth quarter by the Scorpions.
San Marcos, 35; Del Sol, 0
The Royals spoiled the first varsity football game in the history of Del Sol High School with a dominant victory.
You must be logged in to post a comment.