A battle of running quarterbacks tipped in the favor of host Carpinteria on Friday night, as the Warriors overcame four red-zone turnovers to defeat Grace Brethren 27-20 at Memorial Stadium.
Carpinteria quarterback Paul “Munchie” Aguilar rushed 25 times for 191 yards and a touchdown while the Lancers’ Max Leffler racked up 143 yards on 16 carries.
The Lancers scored on a 6-yard run by Kendall Rettig with 45 seconds left in the game, but Carpinteria recovered the ensuing onside kick to seal its fourth consecutive win, improving to 4-1. Grace Brethren, meanwhile, falls to 3-2.
Carpinteria coach Ben Hallock said that the numbers game was important, as the Warrior sideline had about twice as many players on it.
“They don’t have that many players, but the guys who play are very good. We figured our advantage would be our numbers, and maybe we could wear them down a bit,” he said. “Maybe that happened a little, but you could see they never quit.”
The Lancers struck first on a 19-yard touchdown pass from Leffler to Jesse Buel with 7:51 in the first quarter to make it 7-0. A promising Carpinteria drive followed to put the Warriors all the way down on the Lancers 9-yard line, but Grace Brethren’s Micah McDowell snagged an interception to take it back.
Warriors running back Alex Rodriguez returned a punt 60 yards early in the second quarter and followed it with a two-yard touchdown run. The kick failed to leave things at 7-6 in favor of the Lancers. Grace Brethren’s Jared Landseadel fell on a Carpinteria fumble at the Lancers’ 20-yard line with 4:23 in the half, but the Lancers lost a fumble six plays later and gave the ball back to the hosts with 1:24 to go. Carpinteria scored on a 40-yard pass from Aguilar to Brandon Blum with 44 seconds left. The conversion attempt failed, and the Warriors took a 12-6 lead into the break.
Grace Brethren took the lead in the third quarter when Deacon Dobbs intercepted a tipped pass at the 5-yard line and rumbled 95 yards to the house thanks to some great blocks, giving the visitors a 14-13 lead at the 5:17 mark in the third. Aguilar scored, however, on a 6-yard run just before the third quarter ended and Rodriguez added his second touchdown midway through the fifth as it became a two-possession game. Rettig’s late touchdown ended the night’s scoring.
Leffler finished with 106 yards through the air on 6-of-13 passing, and Rettig had 55 yards on 13 carries.
Grace Brethren plays Santa Clara at Pacifica High School on Friday while the Warriors host Fillmore.
CARPINTERIA 27, GRACE BRETHREN 20
Grace Brethren…7 0 6 7 — 20
Carpinteria…0 12 8 7 — 27
First quarter
GB: Buel 19 pass from Leffler (McDowell kick), 7:51
Second quarter
C: Rodriguez 2 run (kick failed), 10:37
C: Blum 40 pass from Aguilar (conv. failed), 0:44
Third quarter
GB: Dobbs 95 INT return (kick failed), 5:17
C: Aguilar 6 run (Conv. good, Aguilar rush), 0:14
Fourth quarter
C: Rodriguez 1 run (Pluma kick), 5:58
GB: Rettig 6 run (McDowell kick), 0:45
TEAM TOTALS GB C
First downs 15 20
Rushes-yards 38-242 47-318
Passing yards 106 98
Comp-Att-Int 6-13-0 5-8-2
Punts-avg. 3-33 0-0
Fumbles-lost 3-1 4-2
Penalties-yards 7-41 5-50
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — GB: Leffler 16-143, Gilliland 1-3, Rettig 13-55, Porrazzo 2-3, Dobbs 6-38. C: Aguilar 25-191, Saenz 3-12, Rodriguez 11-86, Arreola 8-26, Mendoza 1-3.
PASSING — GB: Leffler 6-13-106, C: Aguilar 5-8-98.
RECEIVING — GB: Buel 1-19, Porrazzo 1-12, Gilliland 2-26, McDowell 2-49. C: Rodriguez 1-24, Arreola 1-5, Saenz 1-13, Blum 1-40, Robinson 1-16.
TEAM RECORDS — GB 3-2, C 4-1.
