The sight of John Uribe slinging the football again brings a brighter shine to the new turf at SBCC’s La Playa Stadium.
The record-setting quarterback from Santa Barbara High has fully recovered from a season-ending elbow injury suffered in Week 6 of his freshman year and is looking forward to a big season for the Vaqueros.
“I had rehab during winter break and I worked on the elbow really hard and got it back to 100 percent,” Uribe said. “I’m feeling really confident about this season.”
“He’s playing very well,” said fourth-year head coach Craig Moropoulos. “John has a year of experience in this offense, even though he got hurt in the middle of the season. He’s way, way advanced from where he was last year at this time. He’s really developing, not just his arm but his presence.”
The Vaqueros went 3-7 last year, including 2-5 in the American Pacific Conference. The APC added Glendale this year while Antelope Valley and East L.A. were reassigned, making it a seven-team conference.
SBCC will open on Saturday (Sept. 4) against Hancock at La Playa Stadium. Kickoff is at 6 p.m.
Other returning starters on offense are running backs Michael Douglas and Juston Leverette (who played in 2008), tackles Chris Anderson and Sean Hampshire and wide receiver Art Gonzalez out of Bishop Diego.
“We’re excited about the local contributors,” said Moropoulos.
Among the players from the local high schools expected to make an immediate impact are linebackers Sam Shipley and Manny Hernandez of San Marcos.
Shipley played for SBCC in 2006 before going on a Mormon mission. He and end Joel Boucher are the only returning starters on defense
“He’s very, very mature and a good leader,” Moropoulos said of Shipley. “He leads by what he does. We’re looking for great things from him.”
Hernandez, besides being a hard-hitting, aggressive linebacker, is valuable weapons as a punter.
Bolstering the defense will be Enrique Thomas, a cornerback from Rio Mesa, whose brother, Kevin, played cornerback at USC last year and is now a rookie with the Indianapolis Colts.
“We’re a little bigger than we were last year on defense and a little more athletic,” said defensive coordinator Jeff Santarosa.
There are 84 players on the roster and 58 are freshmen.
“Having a QB who’s returning is a plus but there’s still a lot of turnover,” said Moropoulos, who‘s also the offensive coordinator. “We’re excited about the young people we have and we have some veterans who can give us some maturity and leadership.”
He said the keys to success are “Ball control on offense — running the ball and quick-release passes. We also have to play a little better in pass defense.”
The Vaqueros have three new assistants. Derrick Baker, 39, played football at UCLA and will coach the secondary.
Dan LaChapelle, a recent UCSB graduate, will coach outside linebackers while Jon Collins is the running backs coach. Collins coached under Howard Schnellenberger at Florida Atlantic.
