San Marcos made Santa Barbara High work to earn a share of the Channel League football title on Friday night in the 62nd Big Game between the crosstown rivals at nearly full Warkentin Stadium.
The Royals played tremendous defense and held the Dons scoreless for most of the first half.
But once Santa Barbara quarterback Abel Renteria ran through the tackle of Owen Lauderdale to put the ball at the 3-yard line and then finish the drive with a touchdown run late in the second quarter, the Dons were on their way to a 26-7 victory and a piece of the league championship with Pacifica and Rio Mesa at 7-1.
Renteria also threw for a touchdown before halftime and Nathan Barrios ran for a pair of scores in the second half, as Santa Barbara completed a 9-1 regular season, the best in coach JT Stone’s nine years at the helm, and won its seventh straight Big Game.
They lead the series 38-24.
Now comes the CIF-SS playoffs, where it’s anybody’s guess what division the Dons will be play. They’ll find out Sunday when the pairings are released.
“Now we wait and see what happens Sunday and see if they’re gonna throw us to the wolves or not,” said Stone. “I’m just happy the kids get the opportunity to finish the season 9-1, something nobody really gave us an opportunity to do.”
Renteria and sophomore wide receiver Kai Mault, who hooked up 10 times for 157 yards, were voted co-winners of the Gary Blades Big Game MVP award.
“It just happened to be me tonight,” Mault said of being the leading receiver. “It could have been any of us, it could have been Jack (Holdren), Winston (Bartley), Tomas (Gil), Jaden (Reath). Our receiver group is really good together, we’re all like one. We play off each other, we help each out with everything.”
Santa Barbara’s second touchdown was a perfect example of the receivers playing off each other. On second and goal from the San Marcos 9, Mault ran an underneath route on the left side and Jack Holdren continued his pattern behind Mault to the end zone. Renteria found the wide-open Holdren with two seconds left in the half to give the Dons a 13-0 lead. The PAT kick failed due to bad snap.
Playing in his first Big Game, Mault said he was extra motivated to have a big night against the Royals after losing to them in varsity baseball last spring.
“Kai came into this game extremely excited. He’s a baseball guy, and a lot of these kids (for San Marcos) play baseball,” said Stone. “This was good for him. When we needed somebody to step up and make plays, Kai came out and made those plays.”
Mault caught passes of 12 and 15 yards to set up a 2-yard touchdown run by Barrios on Santa Barbara’s first possession of the second half. The Dons started their drive at the San Marcos 49 after an attempted onside kick by the Royals didn’t go the necessary 10 yards.
Barrios’ scored again in the fourth quarter on a 3-yard run for a 26-0 lead. That score was set up by a Jeffrey Lechuga 10-yard sack of San Marcos quarterback Josh Engel on third and 4 from the Royals’ 24 and a 35-yard run by Barrios.
Santa Barbara’s defense swallowed up San Marcos’ 1,000-yard running back Andre McCullough for most of the game. Linebackers Julian Castro, Benicio Garcia Holland and lineman Rork Nortonn Damien Stehno and Jeffrey Lechuga led the charge.
San Marcos, which finished 2-6 in league and 4-6 overall, got a touchdown from McCullough late in the fourth quarter on a 24-yard pass from Engel.
San Marcos coach Ralph Molina was pleased how his team played defensively.
The Royals stopped Barrios on a fourth and 2 from their 11 in the second quarter on a big hit by junior Landon Sheffey. They also got a fumble recovery by Adrian Alaniz and some big hits from Lauderdale and linebacker Brod Branstetter.
“We played hard. We had a good game plan and the kids stuck with it,” Molina said. “They really had to work to score.
“We got tired a little bit, but I’m proud, I’m really proud of the way that we played.
“Offensively, we just struggled, but (the Dons) are quick defensively and they bring a lot of people to the ball and it creates problems for everybody.”
Stone felt it was a good game and was happy his team got the job done and achieved its goal of winning the league title.
“Our goal was to be league champs and our kids can say they did that,” he said. “We told the boys we can check the off.”