Santa Barbara quarterback John Uribe said it wasn’t one of his best nights throwing the football.
The Dos Pueblos Chargers would probably disagree with the rifle-arm senior’s assessment of his play.
Uribe passed for 395 yards and three touchdowns in leading the Dons to a 29-17 victory in the Channel League opener at Valley Stadium on Friday night.
While it wasn’t the monster performance he had two weeks ago when he threw for a county-record 581 yards, Uribe did set another record in the Dons’ spread attack. He completed 33-of-51 passes with two interceptions, the completions being the most ever by a county player. His favorite targets were Bryson Lloyd with 14 catches for 145 yards and Roberto Nelson with 8 receptions for 141 yards.
“Tonight wasn’t the best night for me, but people stepped up,” Uribe said. “The line blocked really, really well and we got a couple of good runs from Kyle Leonard and Buster Perez.
“It was the worst game, by far, for me this year, but we got the W.”
That was huge for the Dons (2-4, 1-0), who lost a couple of games in the fourth quarter during a 1-4 non-league campaign.
“Our intensity and focus in the second half was there,” Uribe said. “(Playing DP is) a big rivalry game. We knew we had to be there. Our defense stepped up really, really well tonight, and that’s how we got the W.”
The Dons’ W was still in doubt until late in the fourth quarter. Dos Pueblos (2-4, 0-1) pulled to within 22-17 with 5:10 remaining when quarterback Zach Boytis ran eight yards for a touchdown to cap a 70-yard drive. Boytis completed three passes on the drive, including a 20-yarder to Tyler McGaughey. The Chargers’ drive also was aided by two Santa Barbara penalties.
Dos Pueblos tried an onsides kick on the ensuing kickoff, but Santa Barbara’s Jesse Lucatero fielded the ball cleanly, putting the Dons in business at the DP 49.
DP’s defense dug in and had the Dons facing a third-and-5 at the 44.
“Their defense was really, really good. They’re well disciplined,” Uribe said of the Chargers. “But our offensive line stepped up and just gave me the time I needed and I just made the throws, and put we put points on the board.”
Uribe made the big play, finding Lloyd for nine yards and a first down. The two hooked up again on another third-down play before Uribe iced the game with an 18-yard scoring strike to Nelson.
“We have a special group of receivers this year, and we’re going to take advantage of it and we’re going to make you guard them, and if you give them a little opening, they’re going to catch it,” said Santa Barbara coach Will Gonzales.
“Bryson is the all-time pass catcher at Santa Barbara High and it shows,” he added. “He’s been doing it since his sophomore year, and we’re going to go to him. If you take him away, we’re going to go to Roberto.”
Dos Pueblos coach Jeff Uyesaka said his team didn’t make enough big plays to pull out a victory. He noted the team did meet one of its goals of holding Santa Barbara under its 30-plus points average.
Santa Barbara, with its high-octane, passing game operating at full-bore, marched down the field on its first possession. Uribe completed six passes, the last one on the drive a seven-yarder to Lloyd for the touchdown. The PAT failed.
Dos Pueblos countered with a long drive on its first possession. Behind the passing of Boytis and the running of Dane Limosnero, the Chargers reached the Santa Barbara 27. The Dons’ defense stiffened, leaving DP with a 44-yard field goal attempt that fell short.
Santa Barbara was on the move again. Uribe ran for 12 yards on first down, but came out of the game with a leg injury. The team didn’t miss a beat, though, as Nelson took over and ran 18-yards on his first snap. Uribe returned and guided the Dons to the DP 18. On second down, he passed to RJ Bisquera in the end zone. Bisquera dove for the ball and had it in his hands but the ball popped in the air as he fell to the ground and DP’s Branden Tangle caught it and raced 51 yards to the Dons’ 49.
On first down, Boytis lofted a pass to Limosnero in the right flat and the speedy running back raced 49 yards for a touchdown. Tangle booted the PAT to give DP a 7-6 lead with 20 seconds left in the first quarter,
“You’ve got to have a short-term memory and you go to the next play,” said Gonzales about the crazy turn of events. “That kind of stuff can drive you nuts.”
Santa Barbara’s offense regrouped and put the pedal to the metal again. Uribe hit Bisquera for 48 yards and Lloyd for 10 to put the ball at the DP 12. The Dons got three more yards before Chase Chandler came on and booted a 26-yard field goal for a 9-7 lead.
The Dons were knocking at the door again, reaching the DP 4, but they came up empty, failing on four passes in the end zone.
The Dons would get another opportunity after their defense stopped DP on four downs. The Chargers shanked their punt, giving Santa Barbara the ball at the 25. Five plays later, Uribe nudged his body over the goal-line for a touchdown. Chandler’s PAT put Santa Barbara ahead 16-7 with 3:34 left in the second quarter.
DP had a chance to cut into the lead before halftime, but Brennan Eccles’ 28-yard field goal attempt fell short of the crossbar.
Santa Barbara would open up a 22-7 lead in the third quarter when Uribe connected with Nelson on a 35-yard post pattern in the end zone.
Dos Pueblos kept battling. Boytis completed passes of 15 and 17 yards to Tangle and Eric Arroyo to set up a 32-yard field goal by Tangle, cutting the scored to 22-10. Boytis finished 14-of-21 for 170 yards with one touchdown and one interception.
After Ralph Padilla of the Dons intercepted Boytis to put them in position to score, DP’s Hayden Dow picked off Uribe in the end zone and returned the ball 30 yards to keep the Chargers’ comeback hopes alive.
The DP offense responded with the 70-yard drive, capped by Boytis’ TD run.
But Santa Barbara showed that it had learned from earlier its heartbreaking defeats against Beverly Hills and Pacifica and held on to the lead.
“You just have to stay the course because there are so many highs and lows (in a football game),” Gonzales said. “You think you have it sealed and it’s not. You just have to roll with the punches.”
(Photos taken by Roy Mata/PresidioPics)
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- Dos Pueblos and Santa Barbara High shared the Channel League title last season. (Presidio Sports File Photo)
SANTA BARBARA 29, DOS PUEBLOS 17
Santa Barbara… 6 10 6 7 — 29
Dos Pueblos…7 0 3 7 —17
First quarter
SB — Lloyd 7 pass from Uribe (kick failed), 8:49
DP — Limosnero 49 pass form Boytis (Eccles kick) :20
Second quarter
SB — FG Chandler 26, 10:42
SB —Uribe 1 run (Chandler kick), 3;34
Third quarter
SB—Nelson 35 pass from Uribe (kick failed), 4:37
DP — FG Tangle 32, 2:18
Fourth quarter
DP — Boytis 8 run (Eccles kick), 5:10
SB — Nelson 18 pass from Uribe (Chandler kick), 1:07
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
RUSHING—SB: Leonard 9-22, Uribe 6-23, Lucatero 3-15, Nelson 2-12, Mark Perez 2-6, Maldonado 3-15. DP: Limosnero 5-32, Houston 9-30, Boytis 3-16, Parsons 3-8
PASSING — SB: Uribe 33-51-2, 395. Nelson 0-1-0, 0. DP: Boytis 13-24-1, 174
RECEIVING — SB: Lloyd 14-145, Nelson 8-141, Bisquera 3-73, Leonard 5-29, Maldonado 1-23. DP McGaughey 3-47, Tangle 4-33, Parsons 2-8, Limosnero 1-49, Arroyo 1-17, Brown 1-10, Eccles 1-10.
