FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS

A look at Friday night's Week Zero high school football games.Channel Islands at Santa Barbara: The Dons are going with a youth movement as coach Jaime Melgoza is expected to start as many as 10 sophomores. One of those varsity rookies is quarterback Shawn Ramos. ... Channel Islands also has an inexperienced QB in Malcolm Allen. But the Raiders do have some solid players in running back Ty Camarillo and tight end Jeremiah Valoaga. The verdict: The Dons are too green. Channel Islands 14-7.Cabrillo … [Read more...]

PREP FOOTBALL PREVIEW VIDEO SERIES: San Marcos Royals

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This year’s San Marcos squad is a lot different than the one that won the city title behind an experienced line and up-the-gut attack.“I’d say the opposite. We have a lot of speed… I’d say our speed guys are our strongest point,” said running back Jon Kim, one of the few seniors who saw significant playing time for the Royals last year.San Marcos let out a big sigh of relief when coach Jeff Hesselmeyer returned for his second season. The longtime local football guru was in danger … [Read more...]

Return of Uribe, Shipley has SBCC fired up

The sight of John Uribe slinging the football again brings a brighter shine to the new turf at SBCC’s La Playa Stadium.The record-setting quarterback from Santa Barbara High has fully recovered from  a season-ending elbow injury suffered in Week 6 of his freshman year and is looking forward to a big season for the Vaqueros.“I had rehab during winter break and I worked on the elbow really hard and got it back to 100 percent,” Uribe said. “I’m feeling really confident about this … [Read more...]

Bishop Diego ranked No. 10 in CIF Eastern Division

Bishop Diego received the No. 10 ranking in a CIF-SS preseason football poll.The Cardinals, who return several starting players, are 10th in the Eastern Division poll. The leagues represented in this division are Frontier, Academy, Mountain Valley, Alpha, Ambassador and De Anza.St. Margaret’s of the Academy League is the No. 1 team in the division.In other divisions that include local teams, Santa Ynez is ranked third in the Northwest Division and Carpinteria is listed among othersIn … [Read more...]

PREP FOOTBALL PREVIEW VIDEO SERIES: Bishop Diego

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Their dues have been paid.The young Bishop Diego football players who have taken some lumps the past couple of years are ready to deliver some of their own.The expectations are higher this year at Bishop, because the Cardinals have more experienced players than they’ve had since the CIF finalist team of 2007.“We’re pretty excited,” Bishop coach Tom Crawford said. “We feel the past couple of years we didn’t perform very well. We were very inexperienced.“Last year, … [Read more...]

PREP FOOTBALL PREVIEW VIDEO SERIES: Santa Barbara

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The youth shall inherit the team.At Santa Barbara High, football coach Jamie Melgoza laid things out plain and simple to his squad: “This year we’ve got sophomores who are ready to play. We’ll play the sophomores if you don’t want to step up.”From what he’s seen during the offseason and practice, Melgoza said he may use as many 10 first-year varsity players as starters this season.“They really have a passion for the game,” he said.The Dons took their lumps in Melgoza’s … [Read more...]

FOOTBALL PREVIEW VIDEO SERIES: Dos Pueblos Chargers

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St. Bonaventure is gone, leaving the Channel League football race up for grabs. Dos Pueblos may have won just three games last year, but make no mistake — the Chargers are contenders this year.Senior quarterback Michael Spiritosanto has never played under center, but was a standout running back before breaking his thumb last season. He still played defense, not missing a game with the injury. As a two-year starter at third base on the baseball team, he's got an arm to throw should he need to … [Read more...]

Seminoles debut in winning column

Seminoles quarterback Matt Ruiz communicates with his offense on Saturday.

The Central Coast Seminoles won the franchise's first game on Saturday, a 10-7 defeat of the High Desert Phoenix at Santa Ynez High School.Felipe Macias connected on a field-goal attempt with 40 seconds left in the fourth quarter to send the Seminoles to victory.The Seminoles are officially 2-0 on the season after their first game was forfeited to them. On Saturday, the Barstow Riffians visit Santa Ynez. Kickoff is at 7 p.m.SB YFL NEEDS 8-to-10 YEAR OLDSDamian Moore scored a rushing … [Read more...]

Seminoles step into the semi-pro spotlight

Central Coast Seminoles

Ten years after losing the Santa Barbara Condors, Santa Barbara is giving it another whack with the introduction of the Central Coast Seminoles.The Seminoles – now Santa Barbara’s third semi pro team – along with the Foresters and the Breakers, are hoping to draw the same audiences as their counterparts.“We’re looking to get embraced by the community just like they are,” said owner Luis Ibarra.The Seminoles open their regular season at 7 p.m. this Saturday against … [Read more...]

Three locals to help Cal Poly football team

Cal Poly’s football team has strong ties with the Santa Barbara area.Carpinteria’s Chris Gocong, a two-time All-American linebacker for the Mustangs and the 2005 winner of the Buck Buchanan Award for being the most outstanding defensive player in the Football Championship Subdivision, is entering his fifth year in the NFL. He’s a linebacker for the Cleveland Browns.Kyle Shotwell of Dos Pueblos capped a stellar career at Cal Poly by winning the 2006 Buck Buchanan Award.This year, … [Read more...]