Qu’Ran Gossett and Halle Rillie Named Athletes of the Week at SBART Luncheon

Channel League Play Raises the Stakes for Local Teams

Qu'Ran Gossett rushed for five touchdowns against Capital Christian of Sacramento. | Credit: Victor Bryant

A five-touchdown performance highlighted by a ground shaking 64-yard touchdown run — in which Qu’Ran Gossett broke several tackles and weaved across the field — took social media by storm and earned the Bishop Diego standout running back the Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table’s Athlete of the Week honors.

On the girls’ side sophomore setter Halle Rillie has emerged as a leader on the Dos Pueblos girls’ volleyball team. Rillie led the chargers to a non-league sweep over Oak Park and a key Channel League victory over Ventura, in which she racked up 37 assists, seven kills and eight digs.

“We chose her as captain because she is one of the players that leads by example,” said Dos Pueblos head coach Megan O’Carroll of Rillie. “She is hard working in everything that we do. Whether it is practice, or a match, or a tournament, she is always someone we know we can turn to, who sets the bar of expectation.”

Dos Pueblos girls’ volleyball coach Megan O’Carroll introduces her Athlete of the Week Halle Rillie. | Credit: Victor Bryant

Hot Starts on the Gridiron

Bishop Diego, Dos Pueblos, San Marcos and Santa Barbara are all unbeaten at 2-0 on the football field this season, but with Channel League play beginning this week the competition is set to go up several notches.

Santa Barbara will get a crack at Channel League favorite Pacifica, which features several division 1 prospects, including linebacker Jordan Whitney and 6’4” cornerback Maliki Crawford.

The Dons hung tough against the Tritons last season before eventually falling 24-21 and will look to utilize a similar formula this season.

“The best team in the 805 is Pacifica in my eyes,” said Santa Barbara High coach J.T. Stone. “For us this is a showdown. We’ve been waiting for this moment to get back at these guys. We feel like we are one of the better teams in this league and this is a big one for us.”

San Marcos will face a similar challenge with a road test at Rio Mesa, which defeated Camarillo 47-28 last week.

The Spartans have a division 1 prospect of their own in cornerback/wide receiver Chance Harrison. The Royals have been resurgent this season and will find out just how far they’ve come.

“We have to have a really good week of practice,” said San Marcos coach Ralph Molina. “Our guys are up for the challenge and this is the way it’s going to be, one game at a time in the Channel League.”

Dos Pueblos will host last season’s CIF Division 8 runner up Buena. The Bulldogs lost a lot of talent to graduation and are 0-2 on the season, but still figure to be the Chargers’ toughest challenge to date.

“Whether they have their starting quarterback, their backup quarterback or whoever is taking on that role this week we know we have our hands full,” said Dos Pueblos coach A.J. Patreras. “From every conversation I’ve had with the boys today and this past weekend they know what’s at stake and they know how important this week is.”

In eight-man football, Laguna Blanca notched a 40-38 victory over Orcutt Academy despite being down to 14 players due to injury. Quarterback Kent Dunn guided the Owls to five successful two-point conversions in the tight win. Junior Spencer Hlavaty was integral at the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball.

The Owls will travel to Coast Union on Thursday.

Big West Offensive Player of the Week

Salvador Aguilar has shown that he is a dangerous goal-scoring option for the UCSB men’s soccer team over the first week of the season.

The sophomore forward delivered two of three UCSB goal’s over the first week and both came on majestic headers, which is quickly becoming his trademark.

The Big West Conference announced that Aguilar has earned his second Offensive Player of the Week award of his career on Monday.

The Gauchos will host Cornell on Friday, September 2 at Harder Stadium.

Ande Siegal Lifts Westmont Women’s Soccer

The Warriors are the eighth-ranked team in NAIA and remain unbeaten on the season at 2-0 following a 1-0 victory over Cal Lutheran on Saturday.

Sophomore defender Ande Siegal scored off a free kick in the ninth minute and Westmont was able to make that lone goal stand for the remainder of the match to secure the victory. The goal was Siegal’s first of her collegiate career.

The Warriors were a little unlucky to only score one goal despite generating 18 shots, but the missed opportunities did not tarnish the victory.

Westmont coach Jenny Jaggard also credited senior captain Reese Davidson for her game-winner in the season opener against Southern Oregon. It is the second time in her career that Davidson has notched a game-winner in a season opener.

“We’re sitting at number eight in the country right now so everybody is gunning for us,” Jaggard said. “We have to keep working forward, staying positive and taking it one game at a time.”

Support the Santa Barbara Independent through a long-term or a single contribution.