After the chaotic ending to last year’s “Big Game” between crosstown rivals Santa Barbara and San Marcos — which ended in the first-ever tie between the schools and a tense post-game exchange between the two head coaches — this year’s matchup between the Dons and Royals was expected to be just as heated as ever.
But this year, Santa Barbara Head Coach Nate Mendoza and the Dons came out firing on all cylinders, scoring on the very first possession of the game and not letting off the gas until the final whistle. By the end of the night, Santa Barbara had put on a show with a 60-0 shutout, marking the highest-scoring performance by either team in the 65-year history of the rivalry.
”I think they wanted to avenge their good friends who were seniors last year, and they left no doubt,” Coach Mendoza said after the big win. “This is the one game you play for the other guys. There’s tons of fans here that come for one game — they come for the San Marcos game — and it’s our job to put a performance together. I hope that we made our alumni proud, and everybody else that wore the Dons helmet before.”
Santa Barbara’s offense took the ball on the opening possession, and sophomore quarterback Griffin Arnold led a 47-yard drive with a healthy dose of carries by senior standout running back Monty Lopez and passes to sophomore wideouts Nate Meister and Cade Mault. After five plays, and just over a minute and a half into the game, Arnold connected with Mault down the right side for the first touchdown of the night. With an easy walk-in two-point conversion by power back Aaron Baizan, the Dons were up 8-0.
On San Marcos’ first offensive drive of the game, senior quarterback Cyrus Ried was sacked by a pair of Dons defenders, Malachi Johnston and Landon Nelson. The sack squashed any early momentum, and the Royals were forced to punt after a quick three-and-out.
Santa Barbara took over at its own 15-yard line, with Arnold directing another impressive drive for the Dons, connecting on passes to Lopez and senior wideout James Faletti to set up the offense in the red zone. Arnold capped off the drive with his second touchdown pass of the night, this one to Meister, who he found on a fourth down for a 12-yard score. After another easy handoff to Baizan for the two-point conversion, the Dons were up 16-0 with just over four minutes to go in the first quarter.
The Royals had a miscue on their next possession, with a bad snap on the third play of the drive to force another San Marcos punt, which Santa Barbara punt returner Zane Webb took back deep into Royals territory. On the next play, the Dons scored their third touchdown of the night, with Arnold finding Meister again for a 22-yard score. With another Baizan run up the middle for the two-point conversion, Santa Barbara extended the lead to 24-0 with 1:31 left in the first quarter.
Santa Barbara’s defense continued to dominate, with the defensive line picking up another sack on the Royals’ next possession to force yet another three-and-out and quick punt to give the Dons the ball back at the start of the second quarter.
Once again, it took just one play for the Dons to score, as Arnold set up Lopez with a screen pass, and Lopez weaved his way through the Royals defense 79-yards for his first touchdown of the night. Santa Barbara went for two again, handing it to Baizan who bullied his way through for the conversion, extending the lead to 32-0 just thirty seconds into the second quarter.
San Marcos subbed in a new quarterback, senior Hayden Feleay, who provided a change of pace and a small spark for the Royals when he connected with junior wide receiver Isaac Murillo on a 12-yard-pass — picking up the Royals’ largest gain of the first half and San Marcos’ first first-down conversion of the game. But the drive ultimately fizzled out when San Marcos failed to complete a pass on a fourth down to force a turnover on downs midway through the second quarter.
Santa Barbara leaned heavily on the run on its next offensive drive, splitting carries between Webb and Lopez, with Lopez busting through the middle on a three-yard run to score his second touchdown of the night. With another Baizan two-point conversion, Santa Barbara was up 40-0 with 4:12 left in the half.
The Royals gained only five yards of net offense in the first half. After a punt on the final San Marcos drive of the second quarter, Santa Barbara took the ball back and marched 45 yards, scoring a late touchdown on a two-yard run by Webb. San Marcos stopped Baizan on the two-point try, but Santa Barbara went into the locker room with a commanding 46-0 lead.
The second half was much of the same: San Marcos stalled on its first drive after another sack forced a quick three-and-out; then the Santa Barbara offense drove down the field with Arnold distributing the ball around the field and capping the drive off with an eight-yard touchdown pass to Meister — Arnold’s fifth touchdown pass of the game — to put Santa Barbara ahead 53-0 in the third quarter.
Santa Barbara’s final highlight of the night came from junior cornerback Senyo Wojogbe, who picked off a San Marcos pass near his own 30-yard line, then plowed through a San Marcos tackler before taking it all the way back for a touchdown. With an extra point, Santa Barbara sealed the win at 60-0.
Coach Mendoza said his Santa Barbara squad played hard on both sides of the ball, and he credited the coaching staff for developing the players each week of the season. “These guys have played so hard every game,” he said. “I think if you could say one thing about our kids when you watch them, their effort is through the roof.”
He highlighted Arnold, the Dons’ sophomore quarterback who has really stepped into his role with a breakout performance, throwing for more than 230 yards and tossing five touchdown passes to three different receivers.
“He’s getting better every week,” Mendoza said of Arnold, who was named as this year’s Gary Blades Memorial “Big Game” Most Valuable Player.
Arnold credited his teammates for playing their parts in his first-ever victory as a starting quarterback in “The Big Game” between Santa Barbara and San Marcos. “The lineman gave me a great pocket to throw some passes to my receivers, and I have a great receiving corps and they were just lighting the field up all night,” Arnold said. “It felt good, we went out there and got the win.”
Santa Barbara is now 3-2 overall, and after a week off the Dons will face a tough road test against Newbury Park and star quarterback Brady Smigiel on October 3. San Marcos is now 1-4 overall, and the Royals will also have a bye week before taking on undefeated Fillmore on October 3.
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