LOS ANGELES — Quarterback John Uribe turned in his best collegiate performance on Saturday night and SBCC’s defense put the clamps on L.A. Southwest in a 28-3 football victory at Cougar Stadium.
The three points were the lowest allowed by a Vaquero defense in 79 games. Santa Barbara (2-3, 1-1) got its first win in the American Pacific Conference, thanks to big advantages in first downs (18-7) and yards (374-121).
The Cougars fell to 0-5 and 0-2. Uribe completed 23-of-28 passes for 261 yards and two second-half touchdowns. His 37-yard TD toss to Nicholas Amey put the visitors up 21-3 with 7:09 to go in the third quarter. He found tight end Josh Misegadis for a 5-yard scoring pass that capped an 87-yard march midway through the final period.
“The O-line stepped it up, gave me some time and as the game went on, I got into rhythm and starting getting the ball to different people,” said Uribe, a freshman who threw for more than 4,100 yards and 41 TDs last year at Santa Barbara High. “Everything meshed today in the passing game. This is a big confidence booster.”
Oscar Medina caught 13 passes for 137 yards while Amey had three for 69. Medina is No. 6 in the state with 33 receptions for 368 yards. After scoring five touchdowns in the first four games, SBCC had four on Saturday — one in each quarter.
“We played well and our biggest improvement came in the offensive line,” said coach Craig Moropoulos. “They gave us time to throw and John Uribe threw very well tonight. Our defense was stout. This was a good win, we needed it.”
Moropoulos said the offensive line was led by Chris Anderson and Rick Aversano. Tristan Carter had a pair of 1-yard scoring runs in the opening half with the first one coming on the final play of the first quarter.
His second TD capped a 10-play, 90-yard drive and boosted the lead to 14-3 with 3:57 to go in the second quarter. Uribe had completions of 27 yards to Brian Felt and 34 yards to Medina on a wide receiver screen that moved the ball to the 1. Robyn Lawson led SBCC with 41 rushing yards. Carter added 34 on 11 attempts and caught three passes.
“The value of Tristan is beyond what really shows in the stats,” said Moropoulos. “He’s not a true fullback but he plays there because he does a very good job and he makes us better. We play him at the tailback position to get him more touches.”
After missing last week’s game with an injury, Matt Racowschi returned with a flourish by recording 11 tackles (6 solo), including two for losses of 17 yards. Linebacker Nate Ramirez halted the Cougars’ deepest drive of the night with an interception at his own 13 on the second play of the fourth quarter. Dewayne Taylor intercepted Marcell Dejean at the Vaquero 15 on the final play of the game. Dejean completed 11 of 23 for just 54 yards against a Vaquero pass defense that’s ranked No. 2 in the state, allowing 129 yards a game.
After a bye on Saturday, SBCC will play two in a row at home against Santa Monica (Oct. 17) and L.A. Pierce (Oct. 24).
