Scott Arellano dashed 70 yards for a touchdown on Santa Ynez’s first play from scrimmage Friday night, and the blowout siren sounded in the minds of Carpinteria High football fans.
False alarm.
While the host Warriors were eventually defeated 23-14, long faces were in short supply on the sidelines after the game.
“It was tough, but I really like the way we responded after that start,” said senior lineman John Bustillos. “I liked the way we fought in the second half.”
Despite a 230-yard night from Arellano and a 20-0 deficit in the first half, Carpinteria forced some key turnovers and gave itself a chance to win late in the contest.
“We might start off slow offensively, but the defense is going to keep us in the game,” said Bustillos.
The Warriors, who have just seven seniors on the roster, were out-numbered and out-sized by the Pirates, and it showed statistically. Santa Ynez racked up 457 total yards of offense while Carpinteria mustered just 194.
The Warriors were forced to punt on each of their first five possessions, but that wasn’t as bad as it could have been considering the quality of those punts. Senior Jeremy Stein, who has aspirations of punting at the next level, blasted seven total on the night with an impressive average of 45 yards-per-kick. He also caught three passes from quarterback Paul Aguilar for 38 yards receiving.
“His punting is a great weapon in terms of being able to play defense and establishing field position,” said Carpinteria coach Ben Hallock. “It was great punting and he also caught the ball for us real well tonight.”
After the initial touchdown run by Arellano, the scoreboard was silent until the 10:13 mark in the second period, when Pirates quarterback Tyler Shean capped an 81-yard drive with a 26-yard touchdown pass to Junior Alejandre to make it 14-0.
Carpinteria went three-and-out, and less than two minutes after his previous toss Shean sailed a beautiful spiral deep over the middle, where Rowan Dimase made the catch for a 34-yard touchdown. The conversion failed and the score was 20-0.
The Warriors went three-and-out again on the ensuing drive but Stein blasted a 59-yard punt and Santa Ynez started all the way back on the 11-yard line. Arellano would lose a fumble a few plays later to give the Warriors the ball at midfield with five minutes remaining. On the second play of the possession, speedy tailback Alex Rodriguez took the ball on a triple-option and scooted 54 yards, allowing the Warriors to head into the half trailing 20-7.
Jovan Saenz’s big hit forced another Arellano fumble on the first drive of the second half, and Saenz then recovered yet another Santa Ynez fumble early in the fourth which gave the Warriors the ball deep in Pirates territory. Two plays later, quarterback Paul Aguilar threw a 17-yard scoring pass to Robert Thornton to make it 20-14.
Almost on cue, John Jimenez intercepted a Shean pass on the very next play to give the Warriors the ball at the Pirates’ 21 with 10:38 remaining. Carpinteria would fall two yards short on fourth-and-5 and turn it over on downs.
Santa Ynez then milked the clock with a long drive and got a 20-yard field goal from Arellano with two minutes remaining to put it out of reach.
Hallock was far from upset, but far from satisfied.
“I think we had some guys play the hardest they’ve ever played in their lives tonight, but they can still play harder. We’re going to keep getting better,” he said.
The Warriors play at Morro Bay on Friday.
Santa Ynez…7 13 0 3 — 23
Carpinteria…0 7 0 7 — 14
First quarter
SY — Arellano 70 run (Arellano kick), 9:25
Second quarter
SY — Alejandre 26 pass from Shean (Arellano kick), 10:13
SY — Dimase 34 pass from Shean (Conv. failed), 8:14
C — Rodriguez 54 run (Acevedo kick), 4:16
Fourth quarter
C — Thornton 17 pass from Aguilar (Acevedo kick), 10:58
SY — Arellano 20 kick, 2:05
SY, C
First Downs…21, 9
Rushes-yards…38-313, 35-123
Passing yards…144, 71
Total yards…457, 194
Passes (Comp-Att-Int) …12-21-1, 7-13-0
Punts-Avg…1-39, 7-45
Fumbles-lost…4-3, 2-0
Penalties…712-69, 8-50
Individual Statistics
Rushing—SY: Shean 6-34, Arellano 24-230, Alejandre 3-30, Hollingsworth 5-19. C: Aguilar 19-31, Razo 7-14, Stein 2-9, Thornton 2-1, Rodriguez 5-68.
Passing—SY: Shean 12-21-2-144. C: Aguilar 7-13-1-71.
Receiving— SY: #33 2-12, Jensen 3-39, Porter 2-16, Alejandre 1-26, Arellano 1-4, Dimase 1-34, Lopez 2-13. C: Robinson 1-7, Ayala 1-2, Stein 3-38, Thronton 1-17, Boberg 1-7.
