The battle for the Marmonte League title swung toward Pacifica in the second half.
The visiting Tritons outscored Bishop Diego 27-6 after halftime to pull away for a 46-33 victory, completing an undefeated regular season on Friday night at La Playa Stadium.
“I think in the first half we played well on both sides of the ball. They come out in most games and just march down the field, so the first couple of defensive stands were great,” said Bishop Diego coach Tom Crawford. “What hurt us, obviously, in the second half was the turnovers, and they occurred in spots where they had short fields. They’re too good of a team for us to get away with that.”
The Cardinals (8-2 overall) finish in second place and will now await their first-round playoff opponent when the brackets are released on Sunday.
Tua Rojas and John Michael Flint started the game on fire as Bishop Diego jumped out to a 14-0 lead.
Rojas dropped in a perfectly placed deep ball down the right sideline to Flint for a 56-yard touchdown, giving Bishop Diego a 7-0 lead with 6:56 remaining in the first quarter.
The Cardinals added to their lead with an 81-yard pass from Rojas to Flint down the middle of the field to go ahead 14-0 with 1:37 left in the first quarter.
Pacifica got on the board on the first play of the second quarter with a 10-yard touchdown pass from Taylor Lee to Anthony Jacobs Jr., cutting the deficit to 14-7.
However, a 41-yard kick return by Remi Boykin and two personal fouls by Pacifica at the end of the play set up Bishop Diego with a 1st-and-10 from the 18-yard line. Six plays later, Oscar Mauia plunged into the end zone at the 8:32 mark of the second quarter to put the Cardinals ahead 21-7.
On its ensuing drive, Pacifica increased the tempo of its play calls, and once a rhythm was found, the Tritons could not be stopped. Isaiah Phelps capped off a seven-play drive with a 12-yard touchdown run at the 6:29 mark of the second quarter. The Tritons missed the ensuing extra point, so the score remained 21-13.
An interception by Deon Hasley gave Pacifica a golden scoring opportunity, and the Tritons cashed in with a nine-yard touchdown run by Phelps, cutting the deficit to 21-19 with 1:33 remaining in the first half.
However, Bishop Diego quickly marched down the field, and Rojas made the throw of the season to Flint in the corner of the end zone for a 22-yard touchdown with one second left in the first half, putting the Cardinals ahead 27-19.
“John is such a solid athlete — he’s got size, he runs really well, and he’s got good hands,” said Crawford of the connection between Rojas and Flint. “Tua has a lot of confidence in his ability to be a go-to guy.”
The Pacifica offense exploded in the second half as Lee connected with Tyler Stewart on a 49-yard touchdown and found Jacobs Jr. on a 12-yard touchdown pass. Angel Sepulveda added touchdown runs of 17 and 30 yards.
Bishop Diego missed a 30-yard field goal and turned the ball over twice, fueling the Pacifica onslaught.
Thousand Oaks 35, Santa Barbara 20
The Dons got first-half touchdowns from senior running backs Aaron Baizan and Monty Lopez, but the visiting Lancers closed the game on a 21-7 run to pull away in the second half.
Santa Barbara finishes its season with a 4-6 overall record.
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