There was a greater sense of urgency on the football practice fields this week at Santa Barbara High and Dos Pueblos.
The Channel League season has begun, so everybody is 0-0 and in the hunt for the title and CIF playoff berths is on.
Both local teams will have the home-field advantage in Friday’ nights openers: DP plays host to Buena while across town Santa Barbara takes on defending champion Ventura. San Marcos has a bye.
CHANNEL LEAGUE PICK ‘EM CONTEST
Dos Pueblos has had this game circled on the calendar since its scheduled was finalized. Buena knocked the Chargers out of a CIF playoff berth in last year’s regular season finale.
The Chargers enter league play after a brutal pre-league schedule, where they faced four unbeaten and CIF-ranked teams. After taking their lumps they are now healthy and full of confidence.
Santa Barbara went through a transitional period during the pre-league as it adjusted to new coach JT Stone. The Dons went 3-3 and have made steady progress under Stone. They gave unbeaten Pacifica a tough game last week. They will have their hands full against a physical Ventura squad. The Cougars allowed only 83 points during the preseason.
In non-league games this weekend, Bishop Diego plays L.A. City Section school View Park Charter at La Playa Stadium on Friday, and Carpinteria travels to Temecula to face Rancho Christian on Saturday afternoon.
Ventura (5-1) at Santa Barbara (3-3), 7 p.m. — The Dons defense, which played well during the pre-league, faces one of the best running backs in the league in Ventura’s Tyler Peralta (908 rushing yards, 7 TDs). Peralta runs behind a solid offensive line. Ventura quarterback Tyler Smith has completed 62 percent of his passes (66-105) for 884 yards. He has a big target in 6-3 Zach Sourwine. After a slow start, Santa Barbara’s offense is now clicking. Quarterback Brent Peus is spreading the ball around to Danny Vallin, Chris Jellison and 6-5 Bolden Brace. The running game has shown improvement.
Buena (1-5) at Dos Pueblos (1-5), 7 p.m. — The Bulldogs come into the game on a five-game losing streak. Despite the record, they have some good playmakers. Quarterback Martin Mijares has thrown for 1,525 yards and 13 TDs; Blake Burnett has caught 50 passes, seven for touchdowns; Josh Cookson is the leading rusher with 569 yards and four TDs. Buena has struggled on defense; in three losses it’s allowed more than 50 points. Dos Pueblos has given up a lot of points, too, but they’ve come against some high-powered offenses like Newbury Park, Lompoc and Sierra Canyon. The Chargers’ offense is ready for a break-out game on homecoming night. Senior quarterback Barrett Burnes has the weapons: running backs Angel Davison and Malik Harris, receivers Austen Pearce, Connor Kanen and John Wetzel.View Park (2-4) at Bishop Diego (5-0), SBCC, 7:30 p.m. — This is the first meeting between the schools. View Park is from the Crenshaw district of Los Angeles. It won the L.A. City Section Division 3 title last year and was Division 4 regional bowl team. “They’re very athletic and have gotten better each game,” Bishop coach Tom Crawford said. The Knights are coming off a 40-38 loss to Morningside, a much bigger school. On a side note, their coach, Ken Henderson, and the football team was recently on the Ellen DeGeneres television show.(Link) Bishop Diego opened up its passing game in last week’s 31-14 win over Mission Prep. Quarterback Spencer Stovesand threw for a career-best 274 yards and four touchdowns.
SATURDAY
Carpinteria (3-2) at Rancho Christian, Temecula (4-1), 2 p.m. — Despite having to make a long bus trip, the Warriors are glad to be playing a game. They lost a game against Chadwick, when the school decided to drop 11-man football and play eight-man this season. Rancho Christian is in its third year of playing varsity football. The team has a big quarterback in Preston Diehl (6-2, 195), who is a run-pass threat; running back Reggie Ireland averages 6 yards per carry. Carpinteria’s running game is at full strength with the return of Oscar Garcia and Tim Jimenez.
