Uribe, Vaqueros stun No. 5 Canyons at La Playa

SBCC scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns in a span of 3:16 on Saturday night to rally past No. 5 Canyons 17-14 in a nonconference football game at La Playa Stadium.

The Vaqueros (1-1) got their first win of the season and snapped a 10-game losing streak to the Cougars (1-1).

“I told the guys that the only people who believe we can win are right here in this group,” said SBCC coach Craig Moropoulos. “I said, ‘As long as you believe, we can do it.’ They bought into it, kept coming after them and kept playing hard.”

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Freshman quarterback John Uribe engineered a 14-play, 83-yard drive that culminated in a 1-yard TD run by Robyn Lawson, cutting a 14-3 halftime deficit to 14-10 with 11:15 to go in the final quarter. The highlights were a 19-yard run by Tristan Carter (64 yards on 15 carries) and a 35-yard Uribe-to-Oscar Medina connection on third-and-8 that moved the ball to the Canyons’ 27.

The Cougars went three-and-out but the fourth-down snap sailed over the punter’s head and he kicked it on the run from his own 20. It traveled about 10 yards and fell into the arms of Joel Boucher, who returned it seven yards to the Canyons’ 13.

On fourth-and-23 from the 20, Uribe hit Arturo Gonzalez over the middle and he was tackled at the 1. Uribe faked a pitch to the left and ran for the right corner, diving into the end zone for the go-ahead score that put SBCC ahead 17-14 with 7:59 to play.

Uribe completed 13-of-28 passes for 166 with no interceptions. Oscar Medina caught five balls for 73 yards.

The Vaquero defense intercepted three passes and recorded five sacks. Boucher had six tackles, including two for loss, and 1 1/2 sacks. Cameron Hines and Nate Bailey picked up first-half interceptions.

After the Vaqueros took the lead, Canyons drove 42 yards behind backup quarterback Eric Brown. On first-and-10 from the 16, linebacker Charles Thomas came up with a huge interception with 4:42 remaining.

Canyons got the ball back near midfield on a punt with 2:44 to go. The Cougars moved to the 8 with 22 seconds left before Boucher and Matt Racowschi combined for a sack that moved them back to the 19. With no timeouts and the final seconds ticking off, the Vaquero defense prevented the visitors from getting off a 26-yard field goal.

“I think this is a turning point for us,” said Moropoulos. “It keeps everybody believing that when you’re maybe less talented, if you believe in yourself and you keep believing in family, you can still get it done.”

The Vaqueros will be at home Saturday to battle Ventura at 6 p.m.