Rivalry games simply mean more, and that spirit of competition was on full display when Santa Barbara High and Dos Pueblos met for a hard-hitting matchup under the Peabody Stadium lights on Friday night.
The Dons overcame a gritty effort from Dos Pueblos, pulling away late to capture a 21-10 victory and extend their winning streak over the Chargers to eight games.
“They hit us with the left hook tonight, caught us off guard and were able to hang tight and respond,” said Santa Barbara coach Nate Mendoza of his team’s resilience in an uncomfortably close game.
Dos Pueblos threw the kitchen sink at Santa Barbara, opening the game with an onside kick that was recovered by Caysen Oliver. However, the Chargers went backward on their opening drive and were forced to punt.
The momentum swung quickly as Santa Barbara marched down the field on a seven-play, 70-yard drive capped by a 35-yard touchdown run by Everret Rabb-Preston with 6:04 remaining in the first quarter.
The Chargers responded with a marathon 14-play drive in the second quarter, converting a fourth-and-11 from the 32-yard line with a 15-yard pass from Grady Felix to Oliver. Dos Pueblos paid off the drive five plays later with a four-yard touchdown run by Felix, who faked the ball into the gut of his running back before pulling it out and striding into the end zone untouched to tie the score at 7-7 with 5:43 remaining in the first half.
“We thought we were going to be the bigger, faster, stronger team tonight, and I think that was established throughout the game at times,” said Dos Pueblos coach AJ Pateras. “We knew that we could establish the line of scrimmage. We’ve got a great back, and we’ve got great linemen.”
Just before halftime, Santa Barbara quarterback Griffin Arnold orchestrated a nine-play scoring drive capped by a 14-yard touchdown pass to sophomore Keegan Roessler, giving the Dons a 14-7 halftime lead.
Dos Pueblos cut the deficit to 14-10 in the third quarter on Tiago Carmona’s 26-yard field goal, but Santa Barbara pulled away in the fourth. Rabb-Preston converted a key fourth-down run to extend a drive, and Arnold later found Nate Meister for a touchdown in the back of the end zone that made the score 21-10 with 6:19 remaining.
The Dons’ defense forced Dos Pueblos into a turnover on downs on its next possession, allowing Santa Barbara to run out the clock.
Rabb-Preston led the Dons with 106 rushing yards and a touchdown on 15 carries, while Arnold completed 17 of 25 passes for 148 yards and two touchdowns. Dos Pueblos’ Chase Johnson carried 22 times for 73 yards.
Santa Barbara will visit Righetti next Friday, while Dos Pueblos travels to Village Christian.
San Marcos, 35; Channel Islands 0
The Royals notched their first victory of the Isaiah Veal era. Sophomore tight end Caden LaPlante hauled in two touchdown catches.
Heritage Christian, 35; Carpinteria 0
Carpinteria dropped to 0-2 on the season despite hauling in three interceptions.
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