The Vaqueros survived a late comeback push by Saddleback to come out victorious in their home opener, 34-28, on Saturday at La Playa Stadium.
The win brings SBCC to 1-1 in non-league play while the Bobcats fell to 0-2 to begin the season.
“That was a big win for us, especially for the quarterback (Will Doherty),” Vaqueros head coach Craig Moropoulos said. “He was shaky last week and I knew we were capable of this, and I knew he was too, but we worked hard on slowing the game down because it was going fast last week.”
The first quarter started out all Vaqueros, as the defense forced a three-and-out on the first possession of the game and the offense kept up the momentum.
SBCC freshman quarterback Will Doherty led a nine-play drive headlined by a 39-yard pitch and catch to freshman Cameron Green that got the Vaqueros down to the 6-yard line.
Five plays and one defensive pass interference penalty later, Doherty found his sophomore tight end Elian Sundquist for a 3-yard touchdown pass to go up 7-0 with 9:33 left in the first quarter.
On the ensuing drive, SBCC redshirt sophomore defensive back Ajani Cuevas-Gillis rose up for an interception and came away with the pick, his first of the season.
However, neither offense moved the ball with much success for the rest of the quarter, keeping the Vaquero lead at 7-0 heading into the second.
Following a defensive stop by SBCC, the combination of Doherty and Green connected for passes of 28 and 20 yards downfield. Doherty also hit sophomore wideout Ryles Buckley for a 22-yard gain on a contested catch down the sideline.
Green was the team’s leading receiver, hauling in four passes for 106 yards, an average of 26.5 yards per reception.
“Coach said he’s going to give me the ball and I’ve got to make the best of it and make plays,” Green said. “I came out here and I did that today and next week is going to be the same thing.”
Two plays later, Doherty floated a pass to the back of the endzone and sophomore wide receiver Damare Ward came down with the ball, extending the lead to 13-0 after a failed extra-point attempt with 10:22 left in the half.
The Bobcats punched right back, however, and it started with a big kickoff return into SBCC territory. From there, the offense worked its way down into the red zone and quarterback Trey Kukuk punched in a quarterback sneak from 1 yard out.
After the extra point, the Vaqueros held onto a 13-7 advantage.
However, that score didn’t hold for long as SBCC freshman return man Donovan Harris took the ensuing kickoff and took off down the field 98 yards to the endzone to expand the lead to 20-7 with 7:31 left in the first half.
“Coaches do a great job setting up the blocks and formations so that we can do what we do,” Green said.
The kick return touchdown was Harris’ first play at the college level.
“That kick return was special, [Harris] is a special little dude,” Moropoulos said. “Now it’s nothing but confidence from him… he’ll remember that for the rest of his life.”
The Vaquero defense then forced a three-and-out and the offense kept its momentum, completing an eight-play scoring drive with a 1-yard quarterback keeper by Doherty with 1:31 remaining.
Doherty ended the night completing 11-of-25 pass attempts for 152 yards and two touchdowns.
With that score, SBCC carried a commanding 27-7 lead into the halftime locker room.
The third quarter began relatively quietly, with the two teams exchanging punts after the defenses stood strong.
Then, midway through the quarter, the Saddleback offense seemed to be finding its groove and was moving through Vaquero territory.
However, SBCC linebacker Matt Croteau shut the drive down after jumping in front of the Bobcat pass and picking it off.
He wasn’t done there, either, as he made Kukuk miss and scampered 80 yards down the field for a pick-six, expanding the already dominant lead to 34-7 with 2:43 left in the quarter.
“I’m proud of our defense,” Moropoulos said. “I love it when all three phases (offense, defense, special teams) do it.”
The Saddleback offense then found some life with sophomore Branden Berwald taking over at quarterback. Berwald led a nine-play drive that ended with a 13-yard rushing touchdown by Kenny Manassero, cutting the lead to 34-14 early in the fourth quarter.
Berwald’s success with the offense continued on its next drive, as Saddleback drove down the field and Berwald barreled into the endzone on a 12-yard rushing touchdown to trim the Vaquero to 34-21 with 9:51 left in the game.
On the very next drive, Bobcat defensive back Trevor Romaldo made a leaping interception of Doherty to put Saddleback right back in Vaquero territory.
“[Doherty] looked really solid in the first half, and in the second half he’s got to learn not to force things and not try to do too much,” Moropoulos said of his quarterback’s performance.
The offense took advantage of the field position, with Berwald hitting wide receiver Tristan Duncan near the pylon to make it a one-score game at 34-28 with 6:16 to go.
The Vaqueros then chewed a couple of minutes off the clock before punting the ball back to the Bobcats’s suddenly explosive offense with 3:39 left. However, the SBCC defense stood tall, forcing a pair of back-to-back incompletions that led to a Saddleback punt.
With the ball back in the offense’s hands, the Vaqueros ran out the clock from there to escape with the 34-28 victory.
“I’m really glad we got the win,” Moropoulos said. “I’m very pleased, this is serious football at this level.”
Saddleback actually outgained SBCC 319 to 261 in the game, but the Vaquero defense and special teams ended up being the difference, as they collected five sacks, two interceptions and accumulated 282 return yards.
Two of those sacks were by sophomore Benji Rodriguez, who graduated from San Marcos High School in 2022.
SBCC will continue its season next week on the road against Orange Coast on Saturday at 6 p.m.