Carpinteria High football earned its first win of the season on Friday night with a 35-7 rout of Santa Clara in Oxnard.
The Warriors are now 1-6 on the season, with their Citrus Coast League record now even at 1-1. Friday’s win marked the highest scoring output and the fewest points allowed by the Warriors this year.
“It was a big relief to finally get in the win column,” Carpinteria High head coach Van Latham said. “Our team has worked hard all season. It is gratifying to get the reward for all the effort they have put in. Our defense did a nice job tackling and running to the ball.
“Santa Clara did not threaten to score until the end of the game. Victor Martinez made the tough yardage running the ball inside the tackles. Isaac Neri made big plays with his legs and his arm. Both sides of the ball and our special teams played well.”
The Warriors struck first on a 15-yard touchdown run by Martinez to take a 7-0 lead, which held through the end of the first quarter. They doubled the lead to 14-0 early in the second on a 1-yard rushing touchdown by Neri.
Carpinteria High rounded out its dominant first half with an 11-yard passing touchdown from Neri to Gabe Chung to make it 21-0 heading into the break.
The Warriors kept it rolling in the third, continuing to shutout Santa Clara and adding another score courtesy of a 2-yard rushing touchdown by Neri.
Carpinteria High capped off its scoring with Neri’s third rushing touchdown of the night, this one from 28 yards out to bring the lead to 35-0.
Santa Clara finally got on the board with a touchdown late in the quarter to bring the game to its final score of 35-7.
The Warriors will host Grace next Friday at 7 p.m. at Carpinteria Valley Memorial Stadium.
