Santa Barbara High struggled in the second half en route to a 51-34 loss to Calabasas High on Friday in Calabasas.
The Dons (4-4, 1-2 Conejo Coast League), playing without starting quarterback Griffin Arnold, kept the game close in the first half but couldn’t keep up with the Coyotes in the second half.
After a slow start to the game, the Dons kicked off the scoring on a 1-yard rushing plunge by Aaron Baizan to take a 7-0 lead with 4:37 left in the first.
Calabasas answered with a 55-yard rushing touchdown on the ensuing drive to even the score at 7-7.
The Coyote defense then provided a momentum swing by forcing a fumble, recovering it and returning it for a touchdown to take their first lead of the night at 14-7 with 3:27 left in the first.
The back-and-forth continued to open the second quarter as Baizan once again barrelled his way in from 2 yards out to tie the game back up at 14-14 with 11:02 left in the half.
The majority of the second was headlined by strong defensive play, but Calabasas tacked on a field goal late in the quarter to take a 17-14 lead into halftime.
The Coyote defense came out of the gates hot in the third quarter, scoring on a pick-six and a 60-yard fumble recovery touchdown to quickly expand the lead to 30-14.
The Dons answered with a 19-yard touchdown run from Monty Lopez, but the two-point conversion failed to keep the Calabasas lead at 30-20 with 3:46 left in the third.
Calabasas immediately answered back with a touchdown on the ensuing kickoff to bring the lead back up to 37-20.
The flurry of action late in the third quarter continued as Santa Barbara High quickly moved the ball down the field and scored on a 14-yard touchdown by Lopez to cut the deficit to 37-27 heading into the fourth.
The Coyotes dominated the majority of the fourth quarter, scoring on a pair of long touchdown passes to expand their lead out to 51-27.
Keegan Roessler capped off the game’s scoring for the Dons with a 14-yard touchdown run to bring the game to its final score of 51-34.
Santa Barbara High will look to bounce back when it hosts Westlake next Friday at 7 p.m.