It’s said that defense wins championships and the Santa Barbara Chargers are proof of that after defeating the Ojai Eagles 6-0 to win the Santa Barbara Youth Football League’s senior division crown on Super Bowl day last Saturday.
Nipomo took home titles in the bantam and J1 division while the Carpinteria Indians and Ojai Eagles battled in an exciting J2 title game, with the Eagles coming out on top 24-22 at Carpinteria Valley Memorial Stadium.
Carpinteria's John Requejo shakes Ojai's Shane Hersh at Carpinteria Valley Memorial Stadium.
The senior division game was scoreless for most of the game, with Santa Barbara needing three goal stops during the game to keep Ojai off the scoreboard. Linebackers Christian Pearson, Thomas Lash, Ryan Nuno and Cheroke Cunningham provided their defensive lineman with plenty of support to get the job done.
The Eagles turned the ball over on downs at the 1-yard line on the third stop in fourth quarter. From there, SB quarterback Anthony Carter led the game’s only scoring drive, capped by a touchdown pass to BJ Murrillo with 15 seconds remaining.
Carpinteria and Ojai turned in another classic in the game before as Ojai came from behind in the fourth quarter to win on a Alex Esquivel PAT after a Koby Welch touchdown run.
Ojai’s coaching staff credited Shane Hersh, Casey Crane, Parker Valasquez, Jevon Morrison, and Kyle Breeding for their fine line play against a tough Carpinteria defense.
John Requejo scored three touchdowns for the Indians, including runs of 46 and 20 yards and an 8-yard catch from Ian Craddock. Requejo’s 46-yard scamper in the third quarter, made possible by blocks from Nick Walker, Chris Spann and Nick Estrada, gave the Indians a 22-16 lead.
Ojai had taken its first lead of the game earlier in the quarter on an 80-yard kick-off return for a touchdown by Noah Bohnett.
Nathan Smolnikar collected two interceptions for Carpinteria’s defense, which was led by middle linebacker Jonathan Esqueda.
Nipomo’s Cowboys Silver defeated the Santa Barbara Chargers in the bantam game 14-12. Each team scored two touchdowns, but the Cowboys were able to convert their second PAT to get the win.
