Bishop Diego staged a furious fourth-quarter rally, but Santa Ynez got a huge play in the last two minutes to beat the Cardinals 25-16 in a wild football season opener for both teams at La Playa Stadium on Friday night.
Bishop Diego's Brandon Gonzalez looks for a hole on Friday against Santa Ynez. (Vince Agapito Photo)
Trailing 19-6 with 10:35 to go in the game, Bishop came roaring back behind quarterback Nolan Tisdale. He threw a 38-yard touchdown pass to Nick Mon and 3 1/2 minutes later hit Vince Figueroa for a 14-yard score. A two-point conversion pass to Paul Garcia after the second touchdown brought the Cardinals to within 19-16.
Santa Ynez, however, spoiled the comeback when running back Junior Alejandre bolted for a 70-yard touchdown run in the last two minutes.
Alejandre earlier caught a 21-yard scoring pass from quarterback Ryan Walker to give the Pirates the 19-6 advantage.
Santa Ynez led 7-2 at halftime and 13-2 going into the fourth quarter.
The game was slowed by 25 penalties, 13 by the Pirates and 12 by Bishop.
San Marcos quarterback Joe Rivera and the Royals had a tough time with Rio Mesa's size on Fiday night. (Vince Agapito Photos)
RIO MESA 17, SAN MARCOS 0
The Spartans’ Jordan Nunnery outgained the San Marcos offense, as he rushed for 193 yards on 19 carries in the non-league game at Valley Stadium.
The Royals (0-2) gained 173 total yards compared to the Spartans’ 396.
The Royals were led by Mo Cruz who rushed 14 times for 42 yards. Quarterback Joe Rivera passed for 81 yards before he was sidelined by an injury late in the game.
But San Marcos head coach Jeff Hesselmeyer stayed positive.
“Defensively we did a nice job and we have a lot to build on,” Hesselmeyer said. “On offense, guys ran hard and made some catches.”
The Royals (0-2) will face Beverly Hills at home next Thursday at 7 p.m.
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BEVERLY HILLS 29, SANTA BARBARA 7
The Dons (1-1) were held to five first downs and lost the non-league game on the road.
Santa Barbara tied the score in the second quarter on a 2-yard run by quarterback Shawn Ramos.
Ramos had a tough night passing as he completed 4 of 13 passes for 12 yards and he was sacked for a safety by Greg Townsend, Jr.
Bradford Jellison led the Dons offense with 42 yards rushing on 14 carries.
Beverly Hills took the lead for good when quarterback Josh Newman scord on a 1-yard run with 6:24 left in the third quarter.
Frank Brown had a 73-yard punt return and added another touchdown on a 21-yard run.
“We’re going to make mistakes, and we’ll learn from our mistakes and go forward,” said Santa Barbara coach Jaime Melgoza. “We need to be more disciplined.”
SAN LUIS OBISPO 27, DOS PUEBLOS 20
San Luis Obispo erased a second-half deficit to come back and defeat visiting Dos Pueblos, not securing thedecision until a late turnover ended the Chargers’ threat.
Dos Pueblos took a 20-12 lead in the third quarter behind quarterback Michael Spiritosanto, who rushed for two touchdowns and threw for another. Spiritosanto’s first scoring run was for 62 yards and his second was 27 yards. Josh Bartley caught Spiritosanto’s touchdown pass just before halftime to give Dos Pueblos a 13-12 lead.
San Luis Obispo’s Anthony Maez scored the winning touchdown for the Tigers (1-1), reaching paydirt on a 15-yard run with less than two minutes to go in the game.
Dos Pueblos (0-2) was able to drive all the way to the San Luis Obispo 8-yard line but fumbled to lose possession and the game.
MORRO BAY 36, CARPINTERIA 20
Sam Crizer ran for three touchdowns and passed for two Friday night as Morro Bay spoiled Carpinteria High’s season-opener with a 36-20 win at Carpinteria Valley Memorial Stadium.
Crizer, a 6-foot-2, 210-pound senior, completed 11-of-15 passes and ran 21 times for 160 yards, scoring on runs of 27, 1, and 3 yards and connecting on TD passes of 39 yards tp Jesse Landry and 26 yards to Austin Emley. Crizer also ran for a PAT, kicked two PATs and punted for the Pirates, who built a 21-0 halftime lead.
Carpinteria got almost all its offense in the second half, scoring on a 35-yard by Munchie Aguilar and a 72-yard pass from Aguilar to Miso Ayala in the third quarter and a 9-yard pass from Jeffrey Moorhouse to Chris Estrada late in the game.
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