2011 Game Stories
By Dave Loveton, sports information
*** For game stats, go to "2011 Schedule and Results" and click on score
Saturday, Nov. 5 -- SBCC at West L.A., 1 p.m. West L.A. 34, SBCC 13
Vaqueros fall in season finale, 34-13
Wright rushes for 114 yards at West L.A.
Chad Wright ran 21 times for 114 yards and a touchdown on Saturday afternoon and
SBCC gave first-place West L.A. a battle before falling 34-13 in its season finale
at Culver City.
LeAndre Thompson accounted for four touchdowns (2 rushing, 2 passing) to help the
Wildcats (6-3, 5-0) remain undefeated in the American Pacific Conference. His TD passes
covered 58 yards to Dominic Cooper on the second play of the game and 70 yards to
Donald Drisdom, extending the lead to 27-13 late in the third quarter.
The Vaqueros (0-10, 0-6) scored on a trick play for the second straight week. Receiver
James Pearlstone took a handoff from Wright on a reverse and tossed a 29-yard TD to
Pierre Hale, cutting the deficit to 14-6 with 11:48 to go in the second quarter. The
PAT kick was blocked.
The Wildcats drove 49 yards in four plays and took a 21-6 lead on a 24-yard Thompson-to-Geno
Hall connection with 4:53 to go before halftime.
Mike Spiritosanto, who played quarterback for Dos Pueblos High last year, set up
the Vaqueros’ second TD with a 53-yard punt return to the West L.A. 23. SBCC reached
the end zone with seven straight runs, capped by a 1-yard plunge by Wright. Adam Maisch
booted the PAT to pare the deficit to eight (21-13) with 4:10 remaining in the third
period.
“Mike’s one of the guys we’re counting on for next year,” said SBCC coach Craig Moropoulos.
“He does a lot of things for us -- punt return, kick return and he plays great at
safety.”
Spiritosanto had nine tackles, plus the 53-yard punt return and a 42-yard kickoff
return.
“I asked our guys to step up today and play with pride and they did that, to the
last second,” said Moropoulos. “That’s all I can ask. We lost some guys offensively
that took some wind out of our sails in the third quarter. But we scored and our defense
played really well.”
The Vaqueros lost their top two running backs, Wright and Alonzo Winn, to injury
in the third quarter.
Three plays after Wright’s TD, the Wildcats struck back with a 70-yard TD pass to
stretch the lead to 27-13.
SBCC drove 57 yards on its next possession to reach to 10. On the first play of
the final quarter, a fourth-and-2, quarterback Jake Umphreyville’s pass was batted
down at the line.
West L.A. held a slim lead in first downs (19-16) while dominating in total yards
(410-193). Umphreyville completed 11-of-27 passes for 85 yards with an interception.
He was sacked seven times for 50 yards in losses.
Safety Mitch Nelson and linebacker Chad Quirarte led the defense with 12 tackles
apiece. Thomas Borchert added nine while Collin Powell had seven tackles, two fumble
recoveries and a pass breakup.
“We had a lot of setbacks this year and we lost some guys we were counting on early,”
Moropoulos said. “When adversity happens, you ask guys to step up. Our defense did
that time after time and today was a great example of that.”
Saturday, Oct. 29 -- Glendale at SBCC, 6 p.m. Glendale 38, SBCC 17
Glendale wins Battle of Vaqueros
SBCC falls 38-17 in home finale
Joseph Wiggan ran for 97 yards and two touchdowns on Saturday night, leading Glendale
to a 38-17 win over SBCC in the Battle of the Vaqueros at La Playa Stadium.
The visiting Vaqueros (1-7, 1-3 APC) picked up their first win by outgaining the
home team 362 to 160 in total yards and running 25 more plays (72-47). Glendale won
in spite of 15 penalties for 159 yards.
Santa Barbara (0-9, 0-5) struck first with a 37-yard field goal by Adam Maisch with
6:20 to go in the opening quarter. Glendale, which led 14-3 at the half, scored the
next four touchdowns on short runs.
The visitors stretched the lead to 28-3 on a 4-yard TD by Timothy Broughton with
1:18 left in the third period. Glendale finished with 217 rushing yards on 54 attempts
and SBCC had 94 on 28 tries.
The hometown Vaqueros got nine of their 12 first downs in the second half and scored
a pair of TDs in the final quarter.
The first one was a trick play on the third play of the fourth quarter. QB Jake Umphreyville
threw back to tight end Tyson Heller, who then tossed a 19-yard TD to Dominic Losco
in the center of the end zone. The second TD -- a 17-yard strike from Umphreyville
to Pierre Hale -- came with 8:33 to play and cut the deficit to 35-17.
“We’ve been struggling all season offensively but we keep coming after it,” said
SBCC coach Craig Moropoulos. “Tyson has a good arm and I knew if we could get it off,
it would probably work.”
It was the final home appearance for 14 SBCC sophomores. Offensive lineman Kenny
Ruiz was injured on the first series and never returned.
“We lost our best offensive lineman on the second play and that hurt,” Moropoulos
added. “You can’t keep putting it on your defense. We just wore down.”
Chad Wright gained 53 yards on nine rushes and Alonzo Winn had 51 on 10 tries for
Santa Barbara. Safety Mitch Nelson led the defense with 12 tackles while Chad Quirarte
had 11. Mike Spiritosanto and Tom Borchert contributed 10 apiece. Spiritosanto recovered
a fumble on Glendale’s opening drive.
Saturday, Oct. 22 -- L.A. Valley at SBCC, 6 p.m. Valley 27, SBCC 0
Big second half foils Vaqueros
L.A. Valley posts 27-0 victory
L.A. Valley scored touchdowns on four straight second-half possessions Saturday night
and went on to hand SBCC a 27-0 loss at foggy La Playa Stadium.
The Vaqueros (0-8, 0-4 APC) played without linebacker Manny Hernandez, the No. 1
tackler in the state, as well as linebacker Marcus Griffin and their No. 1 rusher,
Alonzo Winn.
The score was 0-0 at halftime despite three takeaways by the SBCC defense, including
a pair of interceptions by Mitch Nelson.
The Monarchs (4-3, 2-1) drove 82 yards in five plays on their first possession of
the third quarter. Michael Johnson scored the first of his two TDs on a 22-yard run
up the middle. Thomas Borchert blocked the PAT, leaving the visitors with a 6-0 lead.
SBCC failed to convert on a fourth-and-6 from the Valley 39 on its next possession.
Three plays later, Morey Croson connected with Chris Walker on a 64-yard pass, boosting
the margin to 13-0.
The visitors drove 43 and 54 yards on their next two possessions and got into the
end zone on short runs. Valley outgained the Vaqueros 456 to 183 yards. In the second
half, the Monarchs averaged 10.6 yards a play and rushed for 195 yards on 25 attempts.
Valley was 7-15 on third-down conversions while SBCC was 1-13.
“I was proud of the way our defense rose up,” said coach Craig Moropoulos. “We were
missing two of our better players inside. Mitch Nelson, Tom Borchert and Micha Otani-Wengler
did a great job of stepping up.”
Nelson, a freshman safety from Truckee, Calif., had a season-high 13 tackles and
two interceptions that came on back-to-back drives in the second quarter. He picked
off the second one at his own 10, then ran it back 46 yards to the Valley 44. Borchert
had 12 tackles and the blocked PAT. Otani-Wengler recorded nine tackles, as did Delancy
Parham, Chad Quirarte and Mike Spiritosanto.
“Our defense just wore down,” Moropoulos added. “Valley has some athletic guys and
they just kept pounding and pounding and pounding and got loose.”
Jake Umphreyville, making his second start at QB for the Vaqueros, completed 15-of-25
passes for 164 yards with three interceptions.
“You can’t do that (have 3 interceptions) when your defense is doing everything it
can to hang in there and you keep giving them a shorter field,” Moropoulos said. “He’s
doing the best job he can and he’s probably trying to do too much.”
Saturday, Oct. 15 -- L.A. Pierce at SBCC, 6 p.m. Pierce 17, SBCC 7
Pierce holds off Vaqueros 17-7
Hernandez has 17 tackles, fumble recovery
L.A. Pierce jumped ahead 17-0 in the opening quarter on Saturday night and then held
off SBCC to secure a 17-7 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.”
Saturday, Oct. 8 -- Santa Monica at SBCC, 6 p.m. Santa Monica 33, SBCC 9
Corsairs rally past Vaqueros, 33-9
Wright rushes for 131 yards
SBCC jumped out to a 9-0 lead for the second straight home game on Saturday night
but Santa Monica took advantage of mistakes to score 33 unanswered points in a 33-9
victory at La Playa Stadium.
The Vaqueros (0-6, 0-2 APC) turned the ball over seven times, including five fumbles,
and committed 17 penalties for 162 yards. Their last eight possessions ended with
four fumbles, two punts and two interceptions.
“We just didn’t take care of the ball,” said coach Craig Moropoulos. “On special
teams, we made some real poor decisions. The big thing is just keeping the ball in
our hands because our defense was doing a good job.
‘We were trying to take care of the ball, then all of a sudden the special teams
just changed the momentum. When that happened, we kind of lost focus.”
Santa Monica (3-2, 1-0) had its own troubles with four turnovers and 10 penalties.
Quarterback Alfonso Medina completed 20-of-29 passes for 339 yards and four TDs.
The Vaqueros took a 2-0 lead on Santa Monica’s opening possession when the fourth-down
snap sailed over the punter’s head from his own 41-yard line. Jose Esquiviel chased
after the ball and kicked it out of the end zone for a safety.
On the very next play, Chad Wright, a freshman from Flowood, Miss., burst through
the middle for SBCC’s longest run of the season -- a 52-yard touchdown that extended
the lead to 9-0.
Wright ran for a season-best 131 yards on 19 carries.
The Corsairs got on the board late in the first half when Joel Ramos hit quarterback
Keegan Robilotta from the blindside and forced a fumble. Teammate Martin Perry recovered
at the SBCC 42.
Four plays later, Medina hit Aaron Jones with a 17-yard TD pass with 4.9 seconds
left in the second quarter, cutting the deficit to 9-7.
Robilotta was knocked out of the game with 6:59 left in the third quarter and Jake
Umphreyville finished up at quarterback. Umphreyville was 5-16 passing for 62 yards
with two interceptions.
Linebacker Manny Hernandez, the state leader in tackles, had a solid game for the
Vaqueros with 13 tackles, a forced fumble and an 11-yard sack.
Santa Monica scored two touchdowns in a 12-second span late in the third period to
take a 20-9 lead. The visitors recovered a muffed punt at their own 49 and need just
four plays to find the end zone with Myles Johnson running it in from 18 yards. A
2-point PAT run came up short.
Mike Spiritosanto charged forward to take the ensuing kickoff and fumbled at his
own 25. The Corsairs recovered at the 30. On the very next play, Medina hooked up
with Kris Comass on a 30-yard scoring pass that made it 20-9.
SBCC was driving when Umphreyville hit Terrance Brown for an 11-yard gain to the
Corsair 12 on the second play of the fourth quarter. David Mayo’s tackle jarred the
ball loose and SMC recovered at its own 9. Two plays later, Medina hit tight end Aaron
Boesch for a 78-yard score that boosted the lead to 26-9.
“It seemed like every time we’d get something going, something would happen in the
second half,” said Moropoulos.
Saturday, Oct. 1 -- SBCC at L.A. Southwest, 6 p.m. L.A. Southwest 41, SBCC 7
Turnovers spoil APC opener, 41-7
Winn rushes for 145 yards at L.A. Southwest
L.A. Southwest found the end zone four times in the second quarter to build a 27-0
lead on Saturday night and went on to beat SBCC 41-7 in an American Pacific Conference
opener at Los Angeles.
Alonzo Winn, a sophomore from Brentwood, rushed for a career-high 145 yards on 22
carries for the Vaqueros (0-5, 0-1) while Pierre Hale caught five passes for 113 yards.
Winn also caught two balls for 40 yards, giving him 185 all-purpose yards.
Santa Barbara posted season bests in first downs (22) and total yards (372). The
visitors finished with 12 more yards than the Cougars (2-3, 1-0).
The Vaqueros hurt their cause with four turnovers, including three interceptions
and a fumble on the 3-yard line. SBCC was 1-for-5 in the red zone. Southwest didn't
have a turnover, recovering all four of its fumbles.
“We were moving it up and down the field, then we missed a field goal and fumbled
near the goal line,” said coach Craig Moropoulos. “We had three interceptions and
you can’t do that against a good team. They hit us for a couple of big plays and it
got out of hand.”
Shashaun Alexander completed 10-18 for 168 yards and two touchdowns for Southwest.
The Cougars drove 77 yards for their first score, a 1-yard plunge by Ezekiel Graham,
and then Alexander connected with Dana Reed on scoring throws of 54 and 45 yards.
Trailing 20-0, SBCC went 68 yards in five plays and had first-and-goal at the 1.
After a penalty moved the ball back five yards, the Vaqueros’ fumbled a handoff and
Marcus Harrison recovered for Southwest at his own 3.
Harrison picked off a Keegan Robilotta pass on SBCC’s next possession and then the
Vaqueros’ roughed the punter on a fourth-down play. Four plays later, Alexander ran
three yards for a TD with 0:18 on the clock to give the Cougars a 27-0 halftime lead.
Robilotta completed 8-18 passes for 61 yards with two interceptions.
Winn accounted for 47 yards on a 70-yard march to the Cougar 8 midway through the
third quarter. Robilotta’s second-down pass caromed off the hands of a teammate and
into the arms of defensive back Travhn Wolfe in the end zone.
Southwest drove 80 yards in nine plays, capped by a 24-yard run that made it 34-0.
SBCC got on the scoreboard with 1:36 to play on a 3-yard run by Chad Wright. Graham
returned the ensuing kickoff 82 yards for the Cougars’ final TD.
“We’re not a real confident team right now,” said Moropoulos, whose squad is dominated
by freshmen. “We’ve got to find a way to cash in when we get in the red zone.”
Saturday, Sept. 24 -- Moorpark at SBCC, 6 p.m. Moorpark 24, SBCC 9
Moorpark rallies past Vaqueros 24-9
Moorpark overcame an early deficit with 24 unanswered points and went on to beat
SBCC 24-9 on Saturday in a nonconference game at La Playa Stadium.
SBCC jumped ahead 2-0 when Mitch Nelson tackled Josh Robles in the end zone for a
safety on the opening kickoff. The Vaqueros took their biggest lead of the year, 9-0,
on a six-play, 33-yard drive after Mike Spiritosanto recovered a fumble.
Keegan Robilotta threw an 11-yard TD pass to tight end Tyson Heller in the back of
the end zone with 11:55 to go in the second quarter. Alonzo Winn, who had a season-high
108 yards on 23 rushes, had 32 yards in the drive that started with a holding penalty
which pushed the ball back to the 43.
Larry Looney ran for a pair of second-quarter touchdowns to give the Raiders (2-2)
a 14-9 halftime lead. Willis Franklin had 97 of his team’s 240 rushing yards.
Moorpark won the yardage battle 354-155 over the Vaqueros (0-4).
“Our defense played hard and the offense had some success, which is important,” said
coach Craig Moropoulos. “We’ll try to built on that.”
Sophomore linebacker Manny Hernandez, the APC Defensive Player of the Week, had 16
tackles for the second straight week. He had five solos, one tackle for loss and a
sack. Chad Quirarte collected 12 tackles and a fumble recovery while Marcus Griffin made
nine tackles and forced two fumbles.
“I was proud of our defense, they took the ball away a couple of times,” said Moropoulos.
“We need to make a field goal (the Vaqueros are 0-for-4) and we need to continue to
get better.”
Quirarte recovered a fumble at the Raider 23 with 34 seconds left in the first half.
After gaining six yards, SBCC was called for a block in the back and Michael Morando
missed a 44-yard field goal.
On the opening drive of the third quarter, the Vaqueros went 33 yards to the Moorpark
32. They tried a fake punt on fourth-and-5 but Spiritosanto’s run came up two yards
short.
The visitors used the longest drive of the night -- 84 yards in 11 plays -- to take
a 21-9 lead on a 16-yard pass from Nick Owens to DeAndre Hutchins with 12:48 remaining.
Saturday, Sept. 17 -- SBCC at Ventura, 6 p.m. Ventura 48, SBCC 0
Ventura downs Vaqueros 48-0
Ventura ran for 302 yards and four touchdowns on Saturday in a 48-0 nonconference
win over SBCC at the VC Sportsplex.
The Pirates (2-1), ranked No. 17 in Southern Cal, jumped ahead 21-0 after one quarter
and finished with 497 total yards. The Vaqueros (0-3) managed just 107 yards, including
2 rushing yards on 33 attempts.
“They’re a good football team,” said coach Craig Moropoulos. “They played well tonight
and we didn’t. They were very fast up front on defense and we’re struggling up front.”
SBCC suffered its first shutout since Sept. 3, 2005. The Vaqueros had scored in 61
straight games prior to Saturday.
The visitors were 2-of-17 on third-down conversions and their quarterbacks were sacked
six times.
Pirate quarterback Matt Koman completed 14-of-24 passes for 181 yards and two touchdowns.
His 35-yard scoring toss to Kendall Newsome stretched the lead to 27-0 with 8:04 to
go in the first half.
Linebacker Manny Hernandez had a season-high 16 tackles for SBCC, including seven
solo. Hernandez, last year’s state leader with 130 tackles, had two tackles for loss
and forced two fumbles.
Santa Barbara lost fumbles on its own 4- and 14-yard line in the fourth quarter and
Ventura cashed in each one for a TD.
“Defensively the guys played hard and kept coming,” said Moropoulos. “When you turn
the ball over that late and that deep in your own territory, it makes it tough.”
Ventura had 19 penalties for 161 yards while the Vaqueros committed four for 22.
SBCC completes its nonconference schedule on Saturday when it hosts Moorpark at 6
p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 10 -- Antelope Valley at SBCC, 6 p.m. AVC 27, SBCC 7
Vaqueros drop home debut, 27-7
Keegan Robilotta completed 15-of-28 passes for 179 yards on Saturday night at La Playa
Stadium but SBCC couldn’t overcome three turnovers and two missed field goals in a
27-7 nonconference loss to Antelope Valley.
Alonzo Winn rushed for 72 yards on 14 tries and Pierre Hale caught four passes for
95 yards to pace the offense. AVC quarterback Cameron Coon hit on 25-of-36 passes
for 250 yards while running a no-huddle offense.
The Marauders (1-1) went 70 yards in 11 plays on the opening drive, capped by a 2-yard
run by Frank Brown. SBCC’s Quinton Padilla returned the ensuing kickoff 41 yards and
Robilotta hit Hale on a 48-yard completion to the 3-yard line. Karim Jones caught
a 6-yard toss from Robilotta to tie the game at 7.
The Vaqueros (0-2) used a blocked punt by Chad Quirarte and a fumble recovery by
Kameahoo Kahaipo to reach the AVC 5- and 21-yard lines in the second quarter but couldn‘t
get it in the end zone. Adam Maisch missed a pair of field goals as a 22-yard try
was blocked and he was wide right on a 38-yarder.
“It’s disappointing,” said coach Craig Moropoulos. “We had some opportunities to
go ahead and didn’t come up with any points. That really hurts because it puts a lot
of pressure on your defense.
“We gave them one late on a fumble return, otherwise it’s 17-7 and we’re still in
it.”
AVC defensive back Jeff Terry returned a fumble 32 yards for a score that boosted
the lead to 24-7 with 7:05 to go in the third quarter.
Sophomore linebacker Manny Hernandez made 13 tackles (4 solo) for the second straight
game and Mitch Nelson had 11. The offense collected 16 first downs and 278 yards but
was only 2-of-12 on third-down conversions.
“I was proud of our defense,” said Moropoulos. “They played physical, made some big
plays and got some turnovers. Offensively, we need to take some heat off them and
get them off the field a little bit longer.”
Saturday, Sept. 3 -- SBCC at Hancock, Righetti High, 6 p.m. Hancock 33, SBCC 14
Vaqueros drop season opener
Cameron Artis-Payne rushed for 156 and three touchdowns on Saturday night, leading
Hancock to a 33-14 season-opening 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 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.
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