San Marcos, Dos Pueblos and Carpinteria High picked up road victories on Friday in non-league matchups.
The Royals and Chargers will now head into Channel League play while the Warriors will continue non-league competition next week.
San Marcos 17, Santa Maria 7
The Royals came from behind in Friday’s victory over the Saints to move to 2-0 on the season.
Santa Maria started hot on offense by going 50 yards on the first drive of the game, capping it off with a three-yard touchdown pass to take an early 7-0 lead. The Saints converted a pair of fourth downs on the drive.
Both defenses flexed their muscles for the rest of the first half, as neither team cracked the scoreboard until the second half. During the defensive stalemate, the Royals tallied a pair of interceptions.
Coming out of the half, San Marcos had a promising drive end with a fumble inside the Santa Maria 15-yard line. On the very next drive, however, the Royals finally cracked the scoreboard with a 25-yard field goal to cut the lead to 7-3 with 3:12 left in the third quarter.
After forcing the Saints to punt, the San Marcos offense rode the momentum as quarterback Danny Diaz found wide receiver Quinn Donnell for an 18-yard touchdown pass to give the Royals the 10-7 advantage with 8:46 to go.
The Royals defense dominated the next drive, and the offense fed off their success as Diaz scrambled for an 11-yard touchdown run to extend the lead to 17-7 with five minutes left in the game.
The Saints’ offense began to drive and found themselves deep in San Marcos territory, but Donnell came up with a huge interception at the Royals’ 6-yard line.
After a San Marcos punt and a missed field goal by Santa Maria, the Royals entered victory formation and secured the 17-7 win.
San Marcos will get its first Channel League test next week against Rio Mesa at home.
Dos Pueblos 28, Nordhoff 25
The Chargers picked up their second straight one-possession win on Friday over Nordhoff.
Following an opening-drive touchdown and a missed extra-point by the Rangers, Dos Pueblos’ Kaleb Williams capped off the drive with a four-yard rushing touchdown. A successful extra point gave the Chargers a 7-6 lead with 1:36 left in the first quarter.
At the end of the first, Dos Pueblos quarterback Ryan Marsh was injured on a late hit out of bounds and did not return to the game.
Nordhoff regained the lead midway through the second quarter on a 67-yard touchdown run and a successful two-point conversion. The Rangers took the 14-7 lead into halftime.
The advantage was extended late in the third quarter after Nordhoff converted a 37-yard field goal to go up 17-7. From there, the Charger offense came to life.
The comeback effort started with 1:12 left in the third quarter when Daniel Vidaure punched in a rushing touchdown from 12 yards out, cutting the lead to 17-14.
After a Nordhoff turnover gave the Chargers the ball inside the Rangers’ 25-yard line, Vidaure found the endzone again, this one for two yards to give Dos Pueblos the 21-17 lead with 10 minutes left in the game.
Yet another turnover from the Rangers in their own territory set up a score for the Chargers as Williams scored from five yards out to bring the advantage to 28-17 with 3:37 remaining.
Nordhoff drove down the field, scored and secured the two-point conversion on the next drive, but Dos Pueblos recovered the ensuing onside kick attempt to clinch the 28-25 win.
The Chargers begin league play on the road against Buena next week.
Carpinteria 26, Cabrillo (Long Beach) 0
The Warriors’ defense pitched a shutout in the team’s season opener on the road against Cabrillo.
Carpinteria totaled five turnovers and had five sacks on the night. Meanwhile, the offense produced a balanced attack en route to the victory.
Quarterback Talon Trumble led the offense, throwing for 150 yards and rushing for 56 yards while scoring a touchdown. Judah Torres, meanwhile, had 45 yards on the ground to go along with three receptions and a touchdown.
Sebastian Hernandez stood out on the defensive end, snagging a pair of interceptions. Luke Fancher was the recipient of the team’s third interception.
“We are very proud of the players, coaches, trainers, equipment team, water girls and admin,” Carpinteria head coach Mario Robinson said. “It takes everyone to win. We need to continue building on this win and prepare for each game one week at a time.”
The Warriors will take on Channel Islands at home next Friday.
