The Santa Barbara High football team took control of the running game early and dominated Rio Mesa to the tune of 243 total rushing yards in a hard-fought Channel League matchup on Friday.
The Dons ran their way to a 30-10 victory over the host Spartans at John Reardon Field.
“I’m very, very impressed with the boys,” Dons coach Nate Mendoza said. “Our game plan was to run the ball and play in a phone booth and we did that.”
With the win, the Dons are now 4-1 in Channel League play and sit behind only undefeated Pacifica in the standings. Rio Mesa, meanwhile, drops to 2-2 in league play.
The game started with a bang, as Dons defensive back Monty Lopez came up with an interception on the second play from scrimmage to immediately swing the momentum in favor of Santa Barbara.
It was the second week in a row that the Dons defense forced a turnover on the first possession of the game.
The offense wasted no time, as Koa Herrera broke off a 30-yard run on the very next play to get his team down to the 5-yard line. From there, quarterback Abel Renteria drove the pile forward for the touchdown and Santa Barbara was up 7-0 with less than two minutes off the clock.
After the Dons stood tall on defense yet again by forcing a three-and-out, it was back to work for the Santa Barbara High offense.
Herrera and Renteria pounded the ball all the way down the field until Renteria once again found the endzone for his second rushing touchdown, this one from four yards out to give his team a 14-0 lead midway through the first quarter.
On the ensuing possession, the Spartans found some success driving down the field before a false start and a sack by Angel Cordova forced them to take a field goal, which was successful and cut the lead to 14-3 just before the end of the first quarter.
After opening up the next drive with back-to-back run plays, Renteria made a rare drop back to pass and hit wide receiver Kai Mault, who made a few players miss and picked up 30 yards.
Rio Mesa was then called for a personal foul and the Dons took advantage by hitting a field goal from 27 yards out to bring the lead back to 14 at 17-3 with 11:10 left in the half.
It was a chippy game all around, with the Spartans seemingly playing the role of instigator, as they were called for seven personal fouls or unsportsmanlike conduct penalties.
“We played disciplined football and took advantage of all of their penalties,” Mendoza said. “We limited our penalties and I’m really proud of the boys for that.”
The rest of the first half was a stalemate as neither offense could mount a threatening drive, giving the Dons the 17-3 lead heading into the locker room.
Following a pair of punts to open the second half, Santa Barbara went back to its regularly scheduled program of running the ball until the Spartans proved they could stop it.
They could not, as the Dons ran six straight run plays, including runs of 18 and 13 from Herrera, and ended off the drive with a 3-yard rushing touchdown by Bode Fauskee. The score expanded the Santa Barbara lead to 23-3 halfway through the third after a failed two-point conversion.
Rio Mesa didn’t fold after that score, however, as the offense marched down the field and J’lin Wingo ripped off a 15-yard run down to the goalline before Isaiah Bautista punched in the touchdown from two yards away.
Bautista was the Spartans’ leading rusher, taking 10 carries for 63 yards.
Surprisingly, the Dons went to the air as Renteria hit Winston Bartley for a 21-yard pitch and catch to open up the drive. However, they went right back to the run game, calling 10 straight run plays that ended with a 4-yard score for Herrera.
Santa Barbara High found much of its run game success in the second half while utilizing a jumbo package that did not include any wide receivers.
“It was a good call by the offensive coordinator Dave Stott,” Mendoza said. “He saw something on film and put that package in this week and it paid off.”
Herrera was a workhorse, ending the night with 24 carries for 162 yards. Renteria also put in plenty of work on the ground, taking 19 carries for 69 yards.
“Hats off to the offensive linemen, that was their game,” Mendoza said. “Obviously Koa ran well and Abel ran well but that was the offensive linemen all the way.”
Through the air, Renteria was 4-for-8 for 61 yards.
Rio Mesa then went into its two-minute offense with just over seven minutes remaining and found some success, driving all the way down to the Santa Barbara 10-yard line.
However, the Spartans came up unsuccessful on a fourth-down attempt and turned the ball over to the Dons, who ran the clock out to clinch their fourth straight league victory.
“The defense played outstanding,” Mendoza said. “Hats off to the defensive staff, they put a lot of time and effort in to set the kids up for success and the kids executed.”
Santa Barbara High will have its bye week next week before a meeting with Channel Islands on Oct. 13.
“We have to play at this level no matter who we’re playing the next three weeks,” Mendoza said about the rest of the season. “Our eye is on the big prize down the road and we’ve got a long way to go.”
