When just 14 players suited up for practice on Monday, Carpinteria High coach John Hazelton suspected his football team would be in for a long week.
A stifling Fillmore High defense helped confirm his feeling Friday night.
A 19-point third quarter, which featured two interception returns for touchdowns, propelled the Flashes to a 40-14 non-league victory at Carpinteria Valley Memorial Stadium.
“When you start the week on Monday with just 14 guys at practice, it’s difficult to expect any other result than this,” said Hazelton, referring to injuries affecting his 24-man roster. “We spent the week trying with three coaches and one dummy bag to prepare for Fillmore’s offense. There’s no way you can do that. They execute their offense so well.
“We’re hurt right now. But we have a bye week coming up that’s going to allow us to heal our bodies and prepare for the Tri-Valley League. When we have our full 24-man roster, we can be the team that beat Santa Ynez, went nose-to-nose with Morro Bay and beat Nipomo.”
Fillmore (5-0) proved to be too much to handle Friday night, posting two touchdowns near the end of the first half and running away with the game midway through the third quarter.
An opportunistic Fillmore defense recovered a fumble at the 10:09 mark in the second quarter to give its offense the ball on Carpinteria’s 34-yard line. The Warriors’ stubborn defense caused the Flashes to spend 11 plays on its short drive, which included two fourth-down conversions. A 1-yard plunge by Ralph Sandoval and a Jose Estrada kick gave Fillmore a 7-0 lead with 5:14 left in the half.
After forcing a Carpinteria punt, the Flashes quickly scored again on a 61-yard touchdown pass from Nathan Ibarra to Troy Hayes, giving Fillmore a 14-point advantage with 1:41 left in the half. The Warriors (2-3) managed just two first downs and 34 yards in the first half. They finished the game with 203 total yards, but 154 of them came on their last three drives after Fillmore posted a 40-0 lead with 11 minutes left in the game.
“Our secondary did a great job on coverage, helping our guys up front apply pressure,” said Flashes coach Matt Dollar. “And our guys up front were applying pressure that led to those interceptions. We work hard all week in practice, and we really did a lot of work scouting Carpinteria’s offense. They are so methodical and so well-coached.”
Fillmore grabbed a 20-0 lead in the third quarter when a bad Warriors snap on a punt gave the Flashes a first-and-goal on Carpinteria’s 4-yard line. Sandoval promptly rushed for the 4-yard touchdown, but the kick failed.
Carpinteria’s next two possessions would end with interceptions for touchdowns by the Flashes’ Noah Aguirre and Hayes, who scored three touchdowns in three different ways during the game. Aguirre returned a pick 60 yards, then Hayes scampered 49 yards after his interception to give Fillmore a 33-0 lead.
Hayes added his third touchdown on a 64-yard run in the fourth quarter to cap Fillmore’s output.
Carpinteria quarterback R.J. Rosborough, who was injured in last week’s game, played both ways for the Warriors, finishing 11-of-27 with two touchdowns and three interceptions.
Trailing 40-0 in the fourth quarter, Rosborough helped his team avoid the shutout by hitting Ryan Caudillo on a 39-yard scoring strike with 9:21 left in the fourth. He then found Ivan Milhollin on a 17-yarder just before time expired.
Hazelton was proud to see his Warriors continue the fight late in the game despite the deficit.
“That’s just not in their nature (to quit),” Hazelton said. “Like I was saying before the season about how I was excited to coach kids with such high (grade-point averages), these kids will play hard whether they’re winning 40-7 or losing by whatever the score ended up being tonight.
“When you’re decimated like we are, you’re not going to win unless you’re playing a vastly inferior team,” Hazelton added. “Fillmore did a good job of taking advantage tonight.”
