It didn’t take long for Santa Barbara’s offense to get on the scoreboard against crosstown rival Dos Pueblos during their matchup on Friday, September 7.
On the first possession of the game, the Dons marched 65 yards down the field in six plays, with senior running back Monty Lopez capping off the drive by sneaking through the Dos Pueblos defense on a seven-yard touchdown run.
“The offense played really well in the first half, and just a little bit flat in the second half,” said Santa Barbara Coach Nate Mendoza. “That’s how you want to play in the first first quarter — it was lights out.”
Santa Barbara’s defense came out with just as much energy, forcing a fumble on Dos Pueblos’ first offensive possession of the game, setting up the Dons deep in Dos Pueblos territory at the six-yard line. One play later, Lopez took the ball and plowed over a Dos Pueblos defender for his second touchdown of the game to give Santa Barbara a 14-0 lead just five minutes into the first quarter.
The Dos Pueblos offense struggled to get going, and three plays into the next possession the Dons’ defense struck again as junior defensive back Reid Miller picked off a pass and took it 30 yards back for a touchdown to extend the Santa Barbara lead to 21-0.
Before the end of the first quarter, Santa Barbara would put another score on the board as sophomore quarterback Griffin Arnold hit Lopez on a short pass and Lopez weaved through the Chargers defense to break free for a 44-yard score. It was Lopez’s third touchdown in the first quarter, giving Santa Barbara a 28-0 lead heading into the second quarter.
Dos Pueblos made a switch at quarterback to give sophomore Grady Felix a chance to navigate the Chargers offense. But Santa Barbara’s defense forced another punt, and the one-sided scoring continued when sophomore receiver Cade Mault took a reverse and escaped for a 37-yard touchdown to extend the Dons’ lead to 34-0 midway through the third quarter.
Before the end of the half, Santa Barbara’s stingy defense forced a fumble — the third turnover of the game — which was recovered by senior linebacker Joseph Barrios deep in Dos Pueblos territory. Santa Barbara tacked on one more field goal before the half to head into the break with a comfortable 37-0 lead.
Santa Barbara’s last points of the game came halfway through the third quarter, when Arnold found junior receiver Finley Congdon wide open down the left sideline, and Congdon managed to stay inbounds and run in untouched for the 57-yard touchdown to stretch the Dons’ lead to 44-0.
Despite the Dons’ domination through the first half, the Dos Pueblos crowd and sideline did not give up and the Chargers showed energy in the third quarter. On the next drive Dos Pueblos sophomore quarterback Felix tossed a pass to senior Micah Barnhart, who snaked his way nearly 70 yards down the left sideline and stretched the ball past the pylon as he was tackled to score the Chargers’ first points of the game.
Barnhart’s wild touchdown lit up the Dos Pueblos crowd, and the home team got another boost of momentum when the Chargers recovered an onside kick one play later and got the ball back with five minutes left in the third quarter.
The Chargers drive fizzled out, however, and the two teams spent the remainder of the third and fourth quarters trading possessions as the clock ran out with Santa Barbara on top, 44-7.
Dos Pueblos Head Coach AJ Pateras said the adversity of the first half was a learning opportunity for his young team. He said it was encouraging to see them put up a fight in the second half.
“They responded and had a great second half,” Pateras said “Nothing changed. The only thing that changed was their mindset and their ability to be more focused… We’ve just got to continue to get these guys to play earlier and just believe in themselves a little earlier.”
Mendoza said he was happy with the Dons’ energy in the first half, but he called out the team’s play in the second half as “kind of sloppy.”
He noted that Friday’s game was the first to feature Lopez as the main running back, and said the Dons will continue to try and find ways to include the elusive senior on offense. “ He’s a game breaker, so we’ve got to put the ball in his hands,” Mendoza said.
Lopez, a three-year varsity player who also plays safety for the Dons defense, said he was eager to get a chance to play running back. “It was my first start, so I had to impress people,” he said of his three-touchdown performance. “I just wanted to do my best out here and it obviously showed — I took advantage of the opportunity and made the most of it.”
Dos Pueblos (1-2) will now prepare for a home game next week against Del Sol, while Santa Barbara (2-1) will prepare for a road test at Moorpark.
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