Santa Barbara High flag football shined on the defensive end in a 13-0 road win over Santa Paula on Tuesday.
The Dons are now 7-1 heading into their Pacific Coast League opener against Pacifica on Thursday in Lompoc. Kickoff is at 6 p.m.
Santa Barbara High wasted no time jumping out in front as Laila Hernandez connected with Elina Stump for a 66-yard touchdown pitch-and-catch to go up 6-0 with 10:35 left in the first.
Santa Paula responded with a drive deep into Dons’ territory, but Stump came up with an interception to turn the ball over.
Later in the first half, the Hernandez-to-Stump duo struck once again from 30 yards out to double the lead. Hernandez found Gannon for the extra point to make it a 13-0 halftime lead.
That score held until the final whistle, with the Santa Barbara defense pulling in two more interceptions courtesy of Alexandra Arnold and Maddy Stoll. Meanwhile, Gannon and Lanaya Solis each had two sacks and Eva Herbouet led the team in flag pulls with six.
“The defense really stepped up on a day when our offense had a hard time getting things going,” Santa Barbara High head coach Travis Manach said. “It was a weird game. Maybe a little bit of a letdown from the SM game, maybe the weather.
“You have to find a way to win these kinds of games, though. Time to refocus with league (play) starting.”
