John Uribe threw for 267 yards and four touchdowns in the second half on Saturday night but SBCC still came up short in a 45-34 football loss to Ventura.
The Vaqueros (1-2) trailed 21-0 at the half and fell behind 35-0 with 10:50 to go in the third period after fumbling away a punt at the 9 and a kickoff at the 2. The Pirates (2-1) scored two touchdowns in 16 seconds to stretch the lead to 35 points on a foggy night in La Playa Stadium.
SBCC quarterback John Uribe motions to his offense in the first half against Ventura.
“I’m really proud of our guys,” said SBCC coach Craig Moropoulos. “That’s the kind of game that does a lot for us, even though we lost. Our guys kept playing and made some things happen.”
Ventura quarterback Antavius Sims ran for 131 yards and three touchdowns and passed for 208 yards and a score. The Pirates narrowly won the yardage battle 420-404.
Uribe, a former Santa Barbara High star, had his best game as a Vaquero, completing 26-of-37 passes for 317 yards and four touchdowns while running for 41 yards and a 3-yard TD that pulled the home team within 45-21 midway through the final period.
Uribe amassed five TDs (4 passing, 1 rushing) in the final 23 minutes and 25 seconds. He completed 18-25 in the second half for 267 yards and finished with 358 total yards.
“We came out with a lot of urgency in the second half,” said Uribe. “We have to come out like at the beginning. Everybody showed heart. This is a loss in the record book but it’s a win in everybody’s heart.
“We stuck together in the second half and made things happen.”
Chad Toocheck had nine catches for 118 yards and a TD. The Vaqueros scored three TDs in the final 7:32, capped by a 17-yard Uribe-to-Toocheck connection that cut the deficit to 11 with 24 seconds left. SBCC went for a 2-point conversion but Michael Douglas slipped on a run to the left.
Chris Kordakis had 103 receiving yards on six grabs and Art Gonzalez caught five balls for 65 yards and two touchdowns.
The Vaqueros lost three fumbles and Uribe had a key interception with 1:07 left in the second quarter. Starting from the SBCC 45, Sims completed three straight passes with the last one going for a 20-yard TD to Dezerek Reed that boosted the Pirate lead to 21-0 at halftime.
“There are no morale victories but I am proud of the way we hung in there and kept fighting back,” said Moropoulos.
After falling behind 35-0, the Vaqueros outscored Ventura 34-10 the rest of the way.
Sam Shipley led the Santa Barbara defense with 18 tackles (6 solo), three for losses and two quarterback hurries. Manny Hernandez had 10 tackles and punted six times for a 42.5-yard average.
“We were down 35-0 and we fought to the end,” Moropoulos added. “All of a sudden, the defense started rising up and made some big plays.”
Ventura rushed for 212 yards and five TDs while holding the Vaqueros to 87 yards on the ground.
“We have to run the ball because that takes the pressure off of John,” said Moropoulos. “They were very physical up front.”
SBCC plays its final nonconference game on Saturday at Moorpark. The Raiders beat Hancock 22-21 on Saturday on a last-second field goal.
