SANTA BARBARA, CA – The Santa Barbara City College Football team lost at La Playa Field to College of the Canyons Friday night, 24-14. The Vaqueros are now 2-2 on the season, and 0-1 in conference play.
The Vaqueros started out hot, receiving the opening kickoff and converting a 3rd-and-16 and a 3rd-and-7 on their opening drive. With 1st-and-goal on the Canyons 2-yard-line, SBCC looked like they would set the tone with an early touchdown. However, a tackle for loss and two incompletions forced them to settle for a field goal.
"We need to finish that with a touchdown," head coach Craig Moropoulos said, "not just for points but for morale, for confidence. Need to punch that one in."
The stout SBCC defense then forced a 3-and-out on Canyons' opening drive, and the Vaqueros offense began driving down the field again. The drive stalled at the Canyons 25, though, and they had to settle for 3 points once again, this time a 42-yarder from Hunter Simmons.
After a Canyons field goal trimmed SBCC's lead to 6-3, the Vaqueros once again put together a solid drive offensively to begin the second quarter. After converting a 4th-and-9 in Canyons territory, two plays later, it was 1st-and-goal at the 9. From there, the Vaqueros could not punch it in, and a missed 25-yard field goal meant the drive finished devoid of any points.
"We had our opportunities, we just didn't get it done," Moropoulos said of the first three drives. "Just little things that a younger team has got to get through."
Canyons scored a touchdown on the next drive to take a 10-6 lead, and the Vaqueros went 3-and-out on the following possession. That would be the score heading into halftime, and the Vaqueros looked to regroup out of the break.
The SBCC defense got a stop on the first series of the second half, and the Vaqueros took over on their own 14-yard-line.
Converting a 4th-and-1 and then a 3rd-and-12, the offense was once again putting a nice drive together before being thwarted on a 3rd-and-5 at the Canyons 35. A Brandon Bowers punt was downed at the 2-yard-line, field position now in the favor of SBCC.
On 3rd-and-9 from their own 3, Canyons completed a 10-yard pass to preserve the drive. Three plays later, on another 3rd-and-9 from their own 14, a 14-yard rush extended the drive once again. Two big plays later, coupled with a Santa Barbara personal foul penalty (one of just two SBCC penalties on the night), Canyons had a 1st-and-goal opportunity. A rushing touchdown capped off the 98-yard drive and improved Canyons' lead to 17-6.
"That drive on their 2, giving up 3rd-and-longs, we got to find a way to get off the field there," Moropoulos said. "When we get people pinned down, we got to be as good there as we were in the first quarter."
To start the fourth quarter, quarterback Shaun Smith got his first run of snaps behind center after checking in on a few plays earlier in the game. The dynamic sophomore was injured to begin the season, and Saturday was his first game active.
"Shaun's a baller," Moropoulos spoke highly. "He can break contain; he makes plays in addition to throwing the ball very well—he's not just a runner.
"Before the game, I told [Smith and starter Will Doherty], 'I'm planning on using both of you,'" Moropoulos said. "They compliment each other very well. It's a good situation for us."
After Doherty converted a 3rd-and-5 earlier in the drive, Smith finished it with a 2-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Gillum, and then completed the two-point conversion to make the score 17-14 Canyons with 11:54 remaining.
Canyons ran in a 3rd-and-goal on the 1 on the next drive to increase their lead once again, now 24-14.
SBCC's next drive could not gain momentum. Then, after a Canyons three-and-out, SBCC went three-and-out on what would be their last possession of the game.
Canyons went into their four-minute drill, and ran out the last 3:28 on the clock, prevailing at that final score of 24-14.
Although no moral victories are taken at this level, the Vaqueros can surely take away some things from this game going into next week.
Cameron Woolsey was great out of the backfield, rushing for 129 yards on 19 attempts (6.8 yards/carry).
"Cam was outstanding last night," Moropoulos said. "He got a lot of yardage after the first hit. For a young offense trying to build confidence, that's solid to have a running back run for 129 yards."
SBCC coughed up zero turnovers (and neither did Canyons, for that matter), and only committed two penalties, as mentioned previously. The defense also played well overall, limiting damage in bunches despite falling victim to a few crucial big plays.
"We competed all 4 quarters. We only had 2 penalties, which we're still not happy about, but it wasn't 10 penalties," Moropoulos said. "[Our defense] was very strong against the run, but we gave up some throws that hurt us."
Will Doherty threw for 121 yards, completing 10 of his 24 passes. Shaun Smith completed 6 of his 8 passes for 42 yards and 1 touchdown.
Cameron Green led the receivers in yardage with 73 on 4 catches, while Jackson Meehan led in receptions with 6 and also rushed for 28 yards on 2 attempts.
Heading into next week's conference matchup against Ventura, whom the Vaqueros have not played since 2017, Moropoulos said the focus will be on "taking care of the little things."
Ventura is also 2-2, but 1-0 in conference play after a late comeback win over Hancock. Santa Barbara travels down south for the game away, Saturday at 6:00.
