The scoreboard figures to get a workout on Saturday when the top two football offenses in the American Pacific Conference square off at La Playa Stadium.
SBCC (3-3, 2-0) will be seeking its third straight victory in the 6 p.m. game while L.A. Pierce (4-2, 2-0) is going for its fifth win in six games. The Brahmas are averaging 37 points and 452 yards and the Vaqueros aren’t far behind with 26.7 points and 411 yards.
“They’ve got some explosive athletes who can run and pass,” said SBCC coach Craig Moropoulos. “But we’ve got the top rusher and passer in the conference,”
John Uribe tied a school record with five TD passes in last week’s 35-28 win at Santa Monica. He’s first in the conference and third in Southern Cal, averaging 258 yards with a 62.4-percent completion rate. His 12 TDs are second-best in Southern Cal.
Art Gonzalez (32 catches, 568 yards, 6 TDs) had five receptions for 140 yards and three TDs last week.
Michael Douglas tops the APC in rushing (85.4 yards per game) and has three straight 100-yard games, topped by a season-high of 133 at Moorpark.
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The injury bug hit Santa Barbara last week with linebacker Sam Shipley (hamstring) and defensive end David Isebere (knee) leaving the game early. Shipley is day-to-day but is expected to play while Isebere is waiting on test results.
Joel Boucher, a sophomore defensive lineman, suffered a knee injury in Thursday’s practice and is out for the year. Gonzalez has a sore knee and defensive lineman Chris Hoose will try to play with a cast after fracturing his hand.
“The fact that we don’t have a bye week (SBCC’s bye is Nov. 13, the last week of the season) is coming back to haunt us,” said Moropoulos.
Manny Hernandez, a freshman linebacker, leads the state in tackles with 75, two more than Shipley.
Pierce’s Steven Batista, who splits time at QB with Clinton Grainger, has thrown for 1,052 yards, 11 TDs and eight interceptions. The Brahmas are second-to-last in turnover margin in Southern Cal at minus 12.
Saturday’s game will be broadcast live on AM 1290 radio
