It was an uphill climb for the Santa Barbara High football team in Friday’s Channel League opener against Pacifica.
The Dons fell behind 21-0 in the first half, climbed to within six points early in the fourth quarter then lost ground and fell 28-15 at Peabody Stadium.
Coach Nate Mendoza said the comeback from the tough first half showed “the kids’ heart and passion.
“They could have packed it in. It would have been easy to but they showed some true fight and battled back. It’s just too late. We got to be better in the first quarter.”
The Dons, who had been productive in the first quarter of their previous two games, got a bad break on their first possession Friday. Quarterback Abel Renteria ran on a fourth-and-9 play at the Pacifica 38 and appeared to make the first down. The spot of the ball, however, left him short.
Tritons then drove 69 yards for a touchdown. Dayday Aupui made a spectacular diving catch in the near corner of the end zone on a 10-yard pass from quarterback Dominic Duran for the score and Jesus Soto kick the PAT.
Santa Barbara went three and out on its next possession, but the Dons got the ball back on an interception by DJ Wilson at their 7-yard line.
They moved the ball on the ground, but when Renteria went back to pass he got sacked twice, forcing them to punt.
Santa Barbara’s defense made another big play, dropping Pacifica’s shifty running back Josh Joyner for a 4-yard loss, but a face-mask penalty gave the Tritons new life.
Duran hit Isiah Dillon on a 15-yard reception, Joyner broke off a 25-yard run, Vernon Bell caught a 7-yard pass and Joyner finished the drive with a 3-yard TD run for a 14-0 lead.
Pacifica linebacker Ian Gonzalez recovered a Santa Barbara fumble at midfield to set up a Joyner 9-yard touchdown run. Soto’s PAT made it 21-0 at 2:20 of the second quarter.
Joyner had a big night, rushing for 153 yards on 29 carries and scoring two touchdowns.
Santa Barbara’s offense finally started clicking in the second quarter. On first down from its 41, Renteria found Sammie Congdon down the right sideline. The junior receive cut inside, outran a Pacifica defender and dived into the end zone for the score.
Unfortunately for the Dons, Congdon was injured on the play. Team also loss starting linebacker Chaz Rosales.
Santa Barbara went for a 2-point conversion and came up short on a run, leaving them down 21-6 at halftime.
The Dons defense stepped up its play in the second half and allowed only one score.
“I’m really proud of the defense for the way they played in the second half,” said Mendoza. “You look at the game and we gave up some third and longs that you want back. We had a huge facemask penalty. It’s a game of inches, that’s the way it goes.
“We don’t have any time to dwell. It’s September first, a long season ahead us and we have San Marcos coming in.”
Santa Barbara got a 32-yard field goal from Bode Fauskee at 3:41 of the third quarter to make it a 21-9 game and then Renteria pulled off one of those special plays Dons’ fans are used to seeing from him.
Under heavy pressure, the senior quarterback fired the ball down field into the arms of junior Kai Mault for an electrifying 80-yard touchdown play.
Renteria completed 11 of 20 passes for 306 yards and two scores.
The Dons missed the PAT kick, leaving them down by six, 21-15, with 7:34 left in the fourth quarter.
Pacifica’s Duran answered with a pair of clutch passes. On a third and 15, he made a perfect throw to a well-covered Jaiden Ransom for 32 yards. He then hit Joyner for 18 yards before Budder Aina ran 9 yards for the touchdown, giving the Tritons a 28-15 lead with 4:37 to go.
Duran was 15 of 21 for 206.
Renteria moved the Dons down field, completing passes of 33 and 23 yards to Bartley and Carter DeBusk, respectively. They got to the Pacifica 7 but came empty with 2:55 left
Pacifica ran out the clock to win its third straight. Santa Barbara fell to 1-2.