Playing its best football of the year, Carpinteria exploded for three touchdowns in the second quarter en route to a 35-17 victory over Santa Clara in the season finale for both teams Thursday night at Memorial Stadium.
For Santa Clara, the loss ended a tough campaign. The Saints, who were CIF champions two years ago, finished 0-4 in the Tri-Valley League and 1-9 overall.
For Carpinteria, it was sad to see the season come to an end. The Warriors found their stride and won their last two games in impressive fashion. On Thursday, they twice rallied from behind to end the year at 2-3 in the TVL and 2-8 overall.
“That was the goal,” Carpinteria coach Ben Hallock said of finishing on a high note. “We were going to try to finish on that upward slope of improvement rather than a downward slide and cap it off for our seniors and set us up for the 2010 season. And that all happened.”
Behind the efficient play of quarterback Paul “Munchie” Aguilar and the hard running of Nick Razo, the Warriors ran their veer offense to near perfection.
“I think we’re playing our best right now,” said Aguilar, who rushed for three touchdowns and gained 111 yards on 14 carries. “We should have been playing like this all along.”
Aguilar got Carpinteria rolling on its first series after Santa Clara, set up by a long kickoff return, scored on its opening drive. The junior had runs of 16 and 18 yards, and Razo broke off a 17-yard jaunt as the Warriors drove 68 years on nine plays for the tying TD. Razo scored it on a 1-yard run.
“This was my last game and I hadn’t scored a touchdown all season and on the varsity at all,” he said. “I want to put it in at least once before I left.”
Razo punished Santa Clara defenders on his blasts through the line. He gained 56 yards on 10 carries and scored two touchdowns.
And he gave a shout-out to the offensive line.
“Our line kicked ass,” he said. “Bust (John Bustillos) did an amazing job; Gil and Wyatt (Craddock) stepped it up; we have two sophomores, Andrew (Sova) and Brian Schneider, (they) took care of business on the line tonight. Steiners (Jeremy Stein), the tight end, handled the linebackers all night.”
Hallock was pleased to see Razo go out on a good note.
“He did a great job,” said Hallock of the senior. “Unfortunately he lost the early part of the season with a shoulder injury. I think he’s just now getting back in the rhythm of things.”
The one area where the Warriors had trouble Thursday was on the kickoff team. Twice Santa Clara’s Scott Koen broke long returns to set up scores.
Koen ran 71 yards on the opening kickoff, putting the Saints in business at the 22. They would eventually score on a 3-yard pass from quarterback Michael Laubacher to Shelton Hill.
A 75-yard kickoff return by Koen after Carpinteria’s tying touchdown put the Saints in great field position on their next possession. But the Warriors’ defense buckled down and forced Santa Clara to settle for a 30-yard field goal by Zac Werre to go up 10-7 with 2;09 left in the quarter.
Carpinteria then took over the game. Aguilar’s slick ball handling and some excellent blocking by the offensive line helped Robert Thornton break off some big runs on a 53-yard drive. Aguilar scored the touchdown on a 2-yard run to put the Warrior ahead for good 14-10 at 11:57 of the second quarter.
“Obviously when you play the option you depend on that guy to make the good reads and get the ball to the correct person, and it turned out tonight he was the correct guy,” said Hallock of Aguilar.
After linebacker Isaish Chavez sacked Laubacher on fourth down, Aguilar went back to work and scored on an 18-yard keeper for a 21-10 lead with 1:54 left.
The Warriors got the ball back one more time and Aguilar connected with Razo on a 29-yard pass play to put them at the Santa Clara 29 with 1:09 remaining in the half. After a 1-yard TD pass was nullified by a penalty, Aguilar handed off to Razo, who powered through tacklers for a 6-yard touchdown and a 28-10 halftime lead.
Aguilar scored on a 29-yard run early in the fourth quarter to cap a 28-0 run by the Warriors
Adon Hull had a 6-yard touchdown with 5:27 left in the game to end Santa Clara’s scoring.
With his team playing so well in its last two games, Hallock said it’s hard to see the season come to an end.
“We’d love to have an extended season and we were so close to have that happen,” he said. “If Bishop Diego beats Oak Park (tonight), we tie for third. That’s pretty good in our league.
“We’d love to have another week,” he continued. “Our guys weren’t ready to stop practice. They hung in there during some tough times. They stayed positive, they stayed together. They rallied here at the end and we got two wins.”
CARPINTERIA 35, SANTA CLARA 17
Santa Clara…10 0 7 7— 17
Carpinteria…7 21 0 7 — 35
First quarter
SC — Hill 3 pass from Laubacher, Werre kick, 9:25
C — Razo 1 run, Maya kick, 5:21
S — 30 FG Werre, 2:09
Second quarter
C — Aguilar 2 run, Maya kick, 11:17
C — Aguilar 18 run, Maya kick, 1:54
C — Razo 6 run, Maya kick, :18
Fourth quarter
C — Aguilar 29 run, Maya kick, 10:05
SC — Hull 6 run, Werre kick, 5:27
TEAM TOTALS SC C
First Downs…11, 16
Rushes-yards…21-52, 40-243
Passing yards…127, 63
Total yards…179, 306
Passes…20-37-0, 5-9-0
Fumbles-lost…1-0, 0-0
Punts-Avg…3-22, 2-32
Penalties…4-21 3-20
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing: SC— Koen 7-43, Hull 2-9, Yoro 2-9, J. Hernandez 2-3 Ramirez 3-2, Werre 1-5, Torres 1 (minus 4), Laubacher 3 (minus 15). C —Aguilar 14-111, Razo 10-56, Thornton 10-42, Chavez 3-12, Flores 3-22.
Passing: SC — Laubacher 19-36-0, 179, Clemons 0-1-0. C — Aguilar 5-9-0, 63.
Receiving: SC — Galloway 8-79, Koen 7-47, Hill 1-3, Ramirez 1-1, Hull 1 (minus 2), Padilla 1-(minus 1), C. Hernandez 1-0. C — Thornton 4-33, Razo 1-30.
Missed Field goals: C, 50 short, 33 wide right.
