The scene was familiar for SBCC in Saturday night’s football finale at La Playa Stadium: A late drive comes up short, leading to a narrow defeat.
West L.A. scored 10 points in a 78-second span of the fourth quarter and then survived a strange ending for a 27-21 APC victory. There were five penalties (four on the visitors) and three sacks in the final 30 seconds as SBCC was trying to get the go-ahead touchdown.
“I’m very proud of our guys,” said coach Craig Moropoulos. “I’m not happy with losing but I’m so proud of our guys. Nine out of 10 games were close right to the end and we fought in every one.”
SBCC’s last four losses came by six points or less. The Vaqueros hurt their cause with a season-high 15 penalties for 143 yards.
Quarterback John Uribe completed 20-of-28 passes for 264 yards and three TDs. All three of his scoring tosses came in the firsts half, including two to Michael Douglas. The last TD of the half, a 15-yarder to Douglas with 3:45 to play, gave the Vaqueros their first lead at 21-17.
Uribe is No. 1 on the Southern Cal chart for TD passes with 23.
Santa Barbara (4-6, 3-3) gave up a 16-yard TD pass with 8:15 to go, then fumbled the ensuing kickoff. The Wildcats (5-4, 3-2) took over on the 4-yard line but the defense held them to a 39-yard field goal.
SBCC took over on its own 28 with 3:21 to play. Uribe, one of 21 sophomores playing their final game, guided his team down the field with a 19-yard run and passes of 15 and 18 yards.
A fourth-and-3 pass went incomplete at the Vaquero 35 but West L.A. was called for offsides and unsportsmanlike conduct. Seconds later, Uribe hit Chad Toocheck for a 15-yard gain to the Wildcat 30.
Toocheck, the No. 2 receiver in Southern Cal, played with a shoulder separations and still caught eight passes for 127 yards and a TD.
SBCC was called for holding and following two sacks, the Vaqueros had fourth-and-18 on the 38 with 7.8 seconds to go. Uribe heaved a pass into the end zone and Toocheck made a spectacular catch while falling backwards over the end line.
The officials didn’t signal touchdown, however. Instead, they huddled and then announced the penalty was offensive pass interference. SBCC picked up an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, moving the ball back to its own 32.
With no time on the clock, the Vaqueros had one last play and Uribe’s pass went incomplete. They got another chance after a roughing the passer call but Veylin Stedham sacked Uribe on fourth down.
Douglas finished with 98 yards on 21 carries, just missing his fifth 100-yard game of the season.
“I’m frustrated because we were right there in so many games but we couldn’t find a way to get it done,” said Moropoulos, whose team was beset by injuries in the last three weeks. “By the same token, I’m extremely proud and encouraged by this program and where we’re going.”
