Santa Barbara High football made a statement on the road at Ventura on Friday, picking up a 28-10 win over the Cougars at Larrabee Stadium.
The Dons (4-2, 3-1) handed Ventura (4-2, 3-1) its first Channel League loss of the season and jumped them in the standings in the process.
The Cougars handled the opening kickoff and seemed to be moving the ball with success. However, a big hit by Santa Barbara linebacker Bode Fauskee jarred the ball loose and the Dons recovered.
On the very next play, quarterback Abel Renteria swung a lateral to wideout Kai Mault, who took the ball and tossed it deep to wide receiver Winston Bartley, who came down with it and took it to the endzone for a 72-yard touchdown.
“All week in practice we said that was going to be our first play no matter what,” Mault said. “As soon as I got the ball, I saw Winston and threw it up and he did the rest.
“It was a great way to start it on [Bartley’s] birthday too, so he got the win and the touchdown on the first play on his birthday.”
Santa Barbara head coach Nate Mendoza felt the impact of the double pass touchdown on the sideline with his team.
“That first offensive play of the game really sparked us,” Mendoza said. “We grabbed the momentum early.”
With the Dons now up 7-0 just three minutes into the game, the Ventura offense looked to settle in.
However, Mault wouldn’t let that happen as he jumped in front of the Cougar pass and reversed field twice on his way to a 65-yard pick-six to give Santa Barbara an electrifying 14-0 lead with 7:18 to go in the first quarter.
“I saw room and the boys switched over to offense and blocked for me the entire way,” Mault said.
The rest of the first quarter was quiet compared to the first five minutes, as Ventura turned the ball over on downs and Renteria fumbled to send the game to the second quarter with the score still 14-0.
The Cougar offense took advantage of the field position from the fumble and capped off a six-play drive with a 1-yard rushing touchdown by Gage Kushner, cutting the lead to 14-7 with 10:51 remaining in the first half.
After both teams exchanged punts, the Dons found themselves with the ball at their own 20-yard line.
Santa Barbara called three straight run plays but was unable to reach the line to gain, setting up a 4th and 1 deep in their own territory.
Dons head coach Nate Mendoza sent the offense back out onto the field, but it was Renteria at the line of scrimmage that audibled out of the original play call.
The senior quarterback took a gamble and it paid off, as the audible was for a streak to his 6-foot-3 wideout Jack Holdren, who made the catch and took it 70 yards down the 1-yard line for what Mendoza called “the play of the game.”
“I knew I had that, I knew Abel was going to get me that ball,” Holdren said. “I knew that corner couldn’t guard me… It was an easy decision for our offense to make.”
From there, Renteria pushed the pile forward on a quarterback sneak to extend the lead to 21-7 with just under four minutes left in the half.
The Dons forced and recovered one more fumble before halftime, but couldn’t take advantage of it and went into the locker room with the two-touchdown lead.
Following an unsuccessful drive that ended in a punt for Santa Barbara, the Cougar offense rattled off a 13-play drive and ended it with a short field goal, inching closer to the Dons at 21-10 with four minutes left in the third.
The rest of the third quarter and the first half of the fourth was a defensive battle, as both offenses struggled both through the air and on the ground.
With just under five minutes left in the game, Ventura was backed up inside its own 20-yard line and facing a 4th and 20.
Down two scores, the Cougars opted to go for it and Dons defensive end Damian Stehno made them pay, getting to the quarterback for the sack and the turnover on downs.
“They scored the one touchdown off our turnover but other than that it was nothing,” Mendoza said. “Just an amazing defensive performance.”
The Santa Barbara offense couldn’t score from 11 yards out and settled for a field goal attempt. However, they got some help from the Cougars as they were called for a personal foul on the attempt, which was blocked, giving the Dons a fresh set of downs at the 3-yard line.
Running back Koa Herrera wasted no time, punching in the 3-yard score to bring the advantage to 28-10 with 3:10 remaining.
Ventura drove down the field as the seconds drained off the clock, looking for one more score. However, the Dons’ defense capped off the win the same way they started it – with a turnover forced by Bode Fauskee.
This time, Fauskee came down with an interception in the endzone to secure the 28-10 victory.
“This is a big win, Ventura is a great team and has been playing outstanding,” Mendoza said. “It gives our kids confidence. We’ve been telling them how good they are and I think now they’re starting to believe really how good they are.”
