Santa Barbara City College football begins a new era on Saturday.
The Vaqueros will kick off their gauntlet of a conference schedule against College of the Canyons at La Playa Stadium at 6 p.m., marking the first game for SBCC in the SCFA Northern Conference.
“We play at a super high level now,” SBCC head coach Craig Moropoulos said. “It’s the highest level that you can play at in community college.
“It’s always a challenge every week, there are no easy games.”
The last time these two teams faced off was in 2019 when the Cougars came away with a 63-10 victory. In the series history, College of the Canyons leads 15-7.
This season, College of the Canyons is 1-2 on the season, with its lone win coming last week in a 17-7 defeat of Palomar College.
On the offensive side, Emery Floyd and Bryce Dickson have split the quarterbacking duties up to this point, with Floyd completing 12-of-35 pass attempts with one touchdown and Dickson going 12-for-26 to go along with one touchdown and three interceptions.
The Cougars have also accumulated 497 rushing yards, with sophomore Malik Brooks leading the way with 191 yards. Floyd, meanwhile, has rushed for four touchdowns.
Defensively, the Cougars have picked up 10 sacks and forced eight turnovers.
“They’re a typical Canyons team that’s very athletic and very physical,” Moropolous said.
SBCC, meanwhile, has put together back-to-back wins where the offense scored 82 points following a 27-14 loss to Fullerton College.
Freshman quarterback Will Doherty is off to a solid start to his college career, throwing for 518 yards and six touchdowns in the first three games of the year.
His favorite target has been fellow freshman Cameron Green, as the wideout has hauled in 12 passes for 256 yards.
The Vaquero pass defense has made quite a few big plays in non-conference play, totaling six interceptions and 14 pass breakups.
Both SBCC and College of the Canyons have faced off against Fullerton College and suffered similar fates, as the Vaqueros lost 27-14 and the Cougars fell 26-14.
With those results being what they were and the high talent levels on both sidelines, these two squads could be in for a tight battle on Saturday.
The game will be broadcast on AM 1290, FM 96.9 and AM1290KZSB.com
