The first series was a good indicator that Santa Barbara High’s football team was in for a tough night against Lompoc.
After making a defensive stand on third down and forcing Lompoc to punt, the Dons were penalized for being offsides.
The Braves took full advantage and drove down the field for a touchdown. The Dons’ first possession resulted in an interception and the Braves capitalized with another touchdown en route 28-0 lead.
Santa Barbara would show some life in the second half, but the damage was done and the Dons suffered a 41-17 non-league loss Friday at Peabody Stadium.
“We showed some good things,” Santa Barbara coach Jaime Melgoza said. “But we’re a young team. We made a lot of mistakes, a lot of crucial mistakes in the first half. On that first drive, we go offsides. Things like that can kill you at the beginning of the game. Those guys get a rhythm going and they start to score.”
Lompoc quarterback Evan Aguilar was a one-man wrecking crew. He rushed for 153 yards on only six carries and scored three touchdowns.
Running back Marcel Blow rushed for 110 yards on 14 carries as the Braves rolled up 366 yards on the ground.
Sophomore quarterback Shawn Ramos was a bright spot for Santa Barbara. He completed 11-19 for 179 yards, ran for a touchdown and caught a touchdown pass from running back Beto Lopez. Ramos also was intercepted twice.
Wide receiver Emilio Gonzalez was Ramos’ favorite target. He caught five passes for 90 yards.
“I thought a lot of our young guys played well,” Melgoza said. “Ramos stepped up. Emilio Gonzalez played almost the whole game. He’s another sophomore. We can’t ask for much more from the sophomores. We need the seniors to start picking it up.”
It was the second straight loss for the Dons (1-2). Lompoc improves to 2-1.
Dos Pueblos 41, Cabrillo 16
Josh Bartley ran the opening kickoff 85 yards for a touchdown and Dos Pueblos never looked back en route to its first win of the season at Huyck Stadium.
Bartley, a running back, scored three touchdowns on the night and rushed for 79 yards on 15 carries.
Quarterback Michael Spiritosanto had a productive night running DP’s spread offense. he rushed for 98 yards on 15 carries and scored a touchdown, and completed 5 of 9 passes for 39 yards.
DP’s defense came up big all night against the Conquistadores. Alex Pena led the charge with two interceptions and a fumble recovery. One of his interceptions he returned 43 yards for a touchdown.
Cabrillo was 0-for-11 passing with the two picks.
DP improves to 1-2 on the season.
Bishop Diego 28, Mission Prep 7
Bishop Diego’s Brandon Gonzalez had a feel for the end zone on Friday night, getting there three times in the Cardinals’ victory at Mission Prep.
Gonzalez accumulated 120 yards on the ground and scored on long runs of 41, 36 and 28 yards. Vince Figueroa scored Bishop Diego’s other touchdown, hauling in and running out a 68-yard TD pass from Nolan Tisdale.
Mission Prep had shut out its first two opponents.
Gonzalez scored twice in the first quarter and again at the beginning of the second to give the Cardinals a 21-0 lead. Mission Prep answered before Tisdale found Figueroa just before halftime to make it 28-7.
Bishop Diego collected its first win of the season after a season-opening loss to Santa Ynez. The Cardinals will go for their second victory when they host Santa Paula next Saturday.
Carpinteria 27, Nipomo 12
Paul Aguilar started the work and Jeff Moorhouse finished the job on Saturday as the two Carpinteria quarterbacks led the Warriors to a 27-12 victory at Nipomo.
Aguilar rushed for a 5-yard touchdown in the first quarter and led another scoring drive in the second quarter that was finished off by a 1-yard run by Alex Rodriguez. On the Warriors’ next possession, however, Aguilar was knocked out of the game by a possible concussion.
In came Moorhouse, who connected with Jordan Robertson for a 40-yard touchdown completion and later scored on a 1-yard touchdown run in the third quarter to keep Carpinteria well in front. The Warriors held a 20-6 halftime lead and were up 27-6 until Nipomo scored with nine seconds left in the game.
“We came out and played well. We had a lot of good energy and put together some nice drives and had some nice stops,” said Warriors head coach Ben Hallock. “We got it done this week.”
The Warriors stand at 1-1 and play at Santa Ynez next week. Nipomo falls to 0-2 and moves on to play Pioneer Valley in Week 3.
