SBCC piled up 458 yards of offense on Saturday night but couldn’t overcome three fumbles in the third quarter of a 35-29 loss at Moopark.
The Vaqueros (1-3) took a 22-21 halftime lead after quarterback John Uribe connected with Chris Kordakis on a 70-yard TD pass and James Nelson blocked a punt out of the end zone for a safety.
Uribe completed 19-of-26 passes for 257 yards and a score while Michael Douglas gained 133 yards on 17 rushes, including a 50-yard TD scamper in the second quarter. Kordakis, a sophomore from El Dorado, Calif., caught six balls for 171 yards and a TD.
Moorpark (2-2) regained the lead 28-22 by taking the second-half kickoff and driving 62 yards in seven plays, capped by a 6-yard pass from QB Dalton Botts to Chris Gant.
SBCC lost two fumbles on the ensuing kickoff and four plays later on a sack. Moorpark took over on the 36 and 38-yard lines but each time, SBCC foiled a fourth-down gamble with Matt Arve breaking up a pass and then Ryan Miller and Alonzo Lefridge tackling a receiver one yard shy of the first-down marker.
[ad#468×60 Story Embed – Slot One]
Douglas fumbled on the next play and the Raiders took advantage with a 39-yard scoring strike from Botts to Gant. That gave the home team a 35-22 lead with 6:04 to go in the third quarter.
With the game tied at 7, SBCC got a 37-yard kickoff return from Fred Maldonado and set up shop at the Moorpark 48. Uribe hit Kordakis for 27 yards on a third-and-9 from the 33 but Douglas fumbled at the 1 and a Raider defender knocked the ball out of the end zone for a touchback.
Santa Barbara fumbled five times and lost four.
“We moved the ball consistently all night, then we fumble at the 1-yard line and we just can’t do that,” said SBCC coach Craig Moropoulos. “We’re our own worst enemy. We can’t keep putting our defense in situations where we give the ball right back to them. That kills you.”
Linebacker Sam Shipley, who became a father on Tuesday when his wife Casey delivered a 7½-pound boy (Bentley Randolph), had 14 tackles, including seven solo. He stopped Derek Morris for a 2-yard loss on fourth-and-2 from the 36 with 2:35 to go in the third.
The Vaqueros then marched 62 yards in 12 plays, capped by Alonzo Winn’s 1-yard plunge on the fifth play of the final quarter. Ten of the plays were runs. Uribe kept the drive alive with a 3-yard sneak on fourth-and-2 from the Raider 43.
The TD pulled SBCC within six (35-29) with 12:43 to play. Santa Barbara got to the Raider 21 on its last drive but a penalty, a 9-yard sack and two incompletes ended the threat.
SBCC has lost five fumbles in the last two third quarters. The Vaqueros have been outscored 45-14 in the third quarter this year.
“Ball security is something you’ve got to emphasize,” said Moropoulos. “We have to do a better job of taking care of it. It’s not easy. It’s not a magical thing where you can just snap your fingers and change a player.
“We have to sharpen up all three phases. We‘ve got to take care of some minor things that turn into major things. And we have to take care of the football.”
The Vaqueros will open the American Pacific Conference season on Saturday with a 6 p.m. home date against L.A. Southwest.
