L.A. Pierce jumped ahead 17-0 in the opening quarter on Saturday night and then held off SBCC to secure a 17-7 football victory at La Playa Stadium.
It was the second straight American Pacific Conference win for the Brahmas (2-5, 2-1) and the seventh straight loss for the Vaqueros (0-7, 0-3). Pierce outgained the home team 350 to 152 yards and ran 17 more plays.
Sophomore linebacker Manny Hernandez, the state leader in tackles, had a huge game with a season-high 17 tackles, including seven solo, and two tackles for loss. He forced a fumble and recovered the ball on the Pierce 35 with just under three minutes to play.
Hernandez also punted six times for a 38.2-yard average. With two minutes remaining, the former San Marcos High standout left the game with an injury.
Santa Barbara was 1-for-3 in the red zone and two kickers missed field goals from 34 and 41 yards in the last 72 seconds of the first half. SBCC is 0-for-8 on field goals this season.
Greg Spivak and Wendall Stokes had interceptions for the Vaqueros while cornerback Donte Johnson had nine tackles and broke up two passes.
“I saw a lot of positives,” said fifth-year head coach Moropoulos. “I saw our guys playing hard and getting after it. The defense got the ball back for us. I saw us do things that we haven’t done in the past and I’m going to focus on that, not on what could have been.
“We’ve got to keep building on the positives and hopefully we can be successful in the future.”
Pierce started 0-5 before beating Glendale 28-20 last week for its first win. The Brahmas averaged 32 points in their previous three games.
Jake Umphreyville made his first start for the Vaqueros at quarterback in place of the injured Keegan Robilotta. Umphreyville completed 7-13 passes for 81 yards with one TD and one interception.
Pierce drove 80 yards on its first possession and took a 7-0 lead on a 7-yard run by Gregory Wanamaker.
Jake Minster intercepted Umphreyville’s second pass at the SBCC 40 and four plays later, the Brahmas went ahead 14-0 on a 5-yard sweep by Wanamaker. Brian Gutierrez booted a 30-yard field goal to make it 17-0 with 1:42 to go in the first quarter.
SBCC got on the board on its next possession, driving 52 yards in 10 plays. On second-and-25 from the 28, Umphreyville hit Pierre Hale at the 5 and he took it in for a 28-yard TD.
“Pierce is a good team with some big players (they have nine 300-pounders, including 6-8, 330-pound offensive tackle Juan Rodriguez) and they got pretty physical with us inside,” Moropoulos noted. “We moved the ball down the field late in the game (from their own 7 to the Pierce 31). We just have to watch the film and continue to get better.”
The Vaqueros will host L.A. Valley on Saturday at 6 p.m.
