VENTURA — First-year Santa Barbara High coach Jaime Melgoza watched his team run into a buzzsaw Friday night at Larabee Stadium, dropping a 56-0 decision to St. Bonaventure. The Seraphs clinched at a least a tie for the Channel League title, and a win next week assures their ninth consecutive outright title.
The Dons (0-9, 0-4) couldn’t slow the Seraphs down.
“That’s a very good team and they play with a lot of class. Their coach did a great job. We played with 10 sophomores tonight,” said Melgoza. “We have no quarterback, running back, we’re missing two inside linebackers and two offensive linemen, We’re hurt and banged up.”
Santa Barbara’s Kenny Foster played well on offense, defense and special teams, including four kickoff returns for 63 yards.
Bryan Perez, starting under center in place of injured quarterback R.J. Rosborough, completed 5-of-11 passes for 10 yards against a tenacious defense. The offense had two first downs, one on a roughing the passer call. The other was an 11-yard run by Joseph Castro, Santa Barbara’s biggest play of the game.
Thankfully, Santa Barbara doesn’t have to worry about St. Bonaventure in the future. The Seraphs will join the Marmonte League in 2010, opening the door for Santa Barbara schools to compete for playoff berths against Buena and Ventura.
St. Bonaventure coach Todd Therrien said his team had its best week of practice all season.
The Seraphs (8-1, 4-0) can celebrate their 14th consecutive outright league title by defeating Dos Pueblos next week.
Diamond Schouder ran for three touchdowns, one in the first quarter, as the Seraphs exploded for 28 first-quarter points in the homecoming game. Troy Hill blocked a punt, setting up the fourth touchdown of the quarter. Devon Blackledge raced 28 yards for a score with 1:03 left, and Mason Kirk kicked the PAT to make it 28-0. Kirk converted eight PATs.
ST. BONAVENTURE 56, SANTA BARBARA 0
Santa Barbara 0 0 0 0 — 0
St. Bonaventure 28 14 7 7 — 56
First quarter
St, Bon – Schouder 11 run (Kirk kick), 10;50.
St. Bon – Souza 17 pass from Meyer (Kirk kick), 7:12.
St. Bon – Higbee 32 pass from Meyer (Kirk kick), 4:05.
St. Bon – Blackledge 28 run (Kirk kick) 1:03.
Second quarter
St. Bon – Schouder 5 run (Kirk kick), 9:07.
St. Bon – Schouder 5 run (Kirk kick), 6:08.
Third quarter
St. Bon – Gaston 14 pass from Evans (Kirk kick), 0:20.
Fourth quarter
St. Bon – Thompson 26 run (Kirk kick), 5:34
TEAM STATS SB St. Bon
First downs 2 13
Rushes-yards 19-(-14) 16-185
Passing yards 10 175
Comp-Att-Int 5-11-0 10-17-0
Punts-avg. 8-20.6 2-30.1
Fumbles-lost 0-0 0-0
Penalties-yards 4-30 1-15
INDIVIDUAL STATS
RUSHING – Santa Barbara: Jo. Castro 4-15, Ju. Castro 2-3, Custodia 4-0, Foster 1 (-3), B. Perez 7 (-14). St. Bonaventure: Schouder 12-73, Blackledge, 3-70, Thompson 6-45, Arbuckle 1 (1-3).
PASSING – Santa Barbara: B. Perez 5-11-0-10. St. Bonaventure: Meyer 7-11-0-137, Evans 3-6-0-38.
RECEIVING – Santa Barbara: Foster 3-3, Chandler 1-5, M. Perez 1-2. St. Bonaventure: Higbee 2-49, Souza 2-38, Henderson 1-27, Gaston 3-24, Schouder 1-15, White 1-11, Thompson 1-4.
TEAM RECORDS – Santa Barbara 0-9, 0-4; St. Bonaventure 8-1, 4-0.
