The Santa Barbara City College football team keeps moving back in time.
The Vaqueros spent the week leading up to an American Pacific Conference battle with West L.A. enjoying their first three-game win streak since 2005. After a 28-21 victory at La Playa Stadium on Saturday night, coach Craig Moropoulos’ program is in the midst of its longest winning streak since 1991.
“They’re starting to believe in themselves,” said Moropoulos of his team, which is now 4-4 after starting off 0-4. “This one was a total team effort.”
SBCC needed two fourth-quarter touchdowns and two fourth-quarter interceptions to stave off defeat and improve to 4-1 in conference.
The Vaqueros gave L.A. plenty of chances to end the streak.
Two first-half fumbles in the red zone foiled Vaquero drives. L.A. capitalized on both, turning a game that could have been 28-0 in SBCC’s favor to a 14-14 deadlock at halftime.
The Vaqueros drove again in the third quarter, this time all the way to L.A.’s 1-yard line. Again, Tristan Carter fumbled trying to leap across the goal line and SBCC lost possession and a sure six points.
But the City College defense produced some turnovers of their own after that, led by Ken Dorset’s two second-half interceptions.
“It felt good to get the stops,” said Dorset of the defensive stands, which included holding L.A. on its own 1-yard line on three straight downs to force a punt that resulted in great field position and the first second-half TD. “We went through a lot this year. We’re a young team and we’re only getting better.”
Four different Vaqs found the end zone. Quarterback Austin Civita gave SBCC a 7-0 lead with a 1-yard run in the first quarter. Jed Ellsbury, who also caught a key 25-yard ball in the 4th quarter, scored in the second quarter on a 5-yard toss from Civita.
Ellsbury’s catch set up a 2-yard TD run by Robin Lawson early in the fourth quarter and Carter made up for the lost fumble in a big way by rumbling for a 46-yard score with 4:53 remaining to put the Vaqueros up 28-14.
A late West L.A. touchdown put the game within one score, but Dorset’s second pic put the game on ice for the Vaqueros.
