Cameron Artis-Payne rushed for 156 and three touchdowns on Saturday night, leading Hancock to a 33-14 season-opening football win over SBCC at Righetti High in Santa Maria.
Artis-Payne had scoring runs of 5 and 57 yards in the first quarter. An 80-yard TD pass on the third play of the second quarter gave the Bulldogs a 21-0 advantage.
SBCC got on the board late in the first half with a five-play, 67-yard march engineered by quarterback Keegan Robilotta. The freshman from Temecula Valley was 4-for-4 for 60 yards on the drive, capped by a 19-yard lob up the right sideline to Pierre Hale for the score.
Robilotta completed 12-22 for 115 yards. Freshman QB Jake Umphreyville was 5-7 for 39 yards. Dominic Lasco caught six passes for 55 yards and Hale had four for 38.
Hancock dominated the ground game with 293 yards and a 6.2 average. The Vaqueros were held to 38 rushing yards.
“I’m disappointed that we didn’t come out on top but I’m very proud of the way the guys kept fighting,” said SBCC coach Craig Moropoulos. “(Hancock) kept coming defensively. We’ve got a lot of young people with one returning starter on offense.
“Both our quarterbacks were over 50 percent with no interceptions. That was encouraging.”
SBCC intercepted two passes, including a tipped ball near the end of the first half that Mike Spiritosanto grabbed at his own 12 and returned 52 yards. Manny Hernandez, the No. 1 tackler in the state last year, had 13 tackles and Mitch Nelson recorded 12 with an interception on the fourth play of the game.
Hancock extended the lead to 27-7 by running the ball 13 straight times on its first possession of the third quarter. Artis-Payne scored from 1 yard out. The Bulldogs got a 37-yard TD run from Marcel Blow midway through the fourth quarter.
A low snap on the PAT kick led to an unsuccessful 2-point try and the Bulldogs took a 33-7 lead with 7:43 to play.
Santa Barbara responded with a 12-play, 76-yard drive that was aided by five Hancock penalties. The Bulldogs were flagged 15 times for 146 yards. Quinton Padilla scored the Vaqueros’ final TD on a 4-yard run around the left side with 1:29 to play.
