An explosive air attack and strong defense down the stretch powered Santa Barbara High football to a 38-24 victory over Moorpark to begin Channel League action on Friday at Peabody Stadium.
The Dons (4-2, 1-0 CL) have found their groove over the past month, rattling off four straight wins after starting the season with back-to-back losses. They have scored 128 points in the last three games for an average of over 42 points per game.
“It’s kind of like starting the season off with a win. This is a brand new season. It feels good,” Santa Barbara High head coach Nate Mendoza said. “This was a quality opponent. [Moorpark] has played some really good football, so I think it shows the guys, all right, we’re here. The sky is the limit for this team.”
Junior quarterback Griffin Arnold led the offensive outburst, completing 22-of-29 passes for 420 yards and four touchdowns. Juniors Cade Mault and Nate Meister each had over 100 receiving yards, and senior Fin Congdon ended the night with 97.
“We definitely feel like we’re hitting our stride. We’re playing how we need to be playing,” Arnold said. “There’s some stuff we need to clean up with penalties, but it’s definitely a great feeling when you’re just balling out and keeping the momentum rolling.”
After opting to receive the opening kickoff, the Dons found themselves in a 3rd and 30 from midfield. Junior Everett Rabb-Preston took a screen pass for 21 yards before Arnold hit Meister for a 27-yard fourth-down completion down to the 2-yard line.
On the next play, Rabb-Preston barrelled in for the touchdown and the 7-0 lead with 7:29 to go in the first quarter.
Following a quick stop on the defensive end, the Dons got right back to work through the air as Arnold found Meister for a 31-yard completion to begin the drive.
Meister caught another big pass to get into Moorpark territory, and Arnold then hit a wide-open Mault down the sideline for a 30-yard touchdown to double the lead to 14-0 with 2:08 left in the first.
While that lead held for the rest of the quarter, the Musketeers cut the deficit in half quickly as Dawson Armstrong found Blake Davidson for a 23-yard score to make it 14-7 with 10:20 remaining in the second.
That score didn’t last long, as the Dons struck on the very next play from scrimmage. Arnold lofted a pass over the defense that hit Congdon, who took off for an 80-yard touchdown and a 21-7 lead.
“It’s a great feeling when you go out there, and you’re not really picking and choosing. You just look at all the guys, and you’re just like, ‘I can throw it at anyone right here,’” Arnold said of his offensive weapons.
“My O-line balled out today. They’ve given up one sack in the past three games. All the playmakers and I get all the recognition, but I gotta say the O-line’s really been getting a lot better during the season.”
The second-quarter flurry continued on the next drive, with Moorpark marching right down the field and scoring on a 3-yard touchdown pass from Armstrong to Ian Fraser to make it 21-14 with 8:09 on the clock.
The game then slowed down with back-to-back defensive stops, and the Dons’ offense followed suit with a slower-moving drive.
That proved to be the right call, as Santa Barbara marched down the field and extended its lead to 28-14 heading into halftime with a 25-yard touchdown connection from Arnold to Meister, who ended the first half with six catches for 113 yards.
“If you’ve got four receivers you can go to and a really strong running back in Everett, then you’ve got options. As long as we’re playing team football and playing for each other, it’s going to be alright. I think they played that way tonight,” Mendoza said of the offensive firepower.
The Musketeers came out of the break with a bang, as Brody Tweedy took the first play from scrimmage for 54 yards before Payton Sustin followed with a 16-yard touchdown to cut the deficit to 28-21 less than a minute into the half.
The Dons then turned the ball over on downs, setting the stage for an 8-minute, 14-play Moorpark drive that ended in a 28-yard field goal to trim the SB lead to 28-24 heading into the fourth quarter.
Santa Barbara answered back with a field-goal drive of their own as the game entered the fourth, with Mault drilling the 31-yarder to bring the lead back to seven at 31-24 with 8:24 left on the clock.
“The biggest sequence was the red zone stop to hold them to a field goal, and we got a score after,” Mendoza said.
The Dons’ defense then had their best stand of the night, with Rabb-Preston coming through with a pass deflection at the line of scrimmage on fourth down to force a turnover on downs.
The offense took advantage of the field position, getting into Moorpark territory in a hurry and converting a big fourth down to keep the drive alive.
Two plays after the conversion, Arnold hit Mault in the flat, and he did the rest, scampering for a 16-yard touchdown for a 38-24 lead with less than two minutes left. Mault hauled in seven passes for 119 yards and two scores on the win.
The SB defense made one final stop on the ensuing drive to give the Dons the league-opening win.
Santa Barbara High will be on the road against Ventura next week, while Moorpark will host Rio Mesa.
