The Santa Barbara City College Football program is looking to turn its recent luck around, and it starts with competing against some of the top teams in the nation this fall.
The Vaqueros are coming off a 0-10 campaign in 2025 and are 7-23 in the three seasons following 2022, when they won a program-record 10 games and captured the American Pacific League title.
After their historic season, SBCC was elevated to the rugged 3C2A National Northern Conference and has struggled to keep up with the competition. However, head coach Craig Moropoulos, entering his 20th year at the helm of the program, believes this year’s team has taken a step up.
“It’s going to be a challenge this year. It’s the same schedule. Everybody gets a little bit better, but hey, so did we,” Moropoulos said.
One of the biggest hardships the Vaqueros have faced in recent years has been in recruiting, mainly due to the program being put on probation after recruiting violations.
The probation, which comes to an end this season, limited the program to only recruiting within Santa Barbara CC, Allan Hancock CC and Ventura College’s districts. It also prevented them from competing in the postseason.
While the recruiting limitations were still in place this past offseason, Moropoulos and his staff were able to bring in a much deeper squad than last year’s team, which was forced to forfeit a game due to a limited roster.
The recruiting began close to home, including several players from Bishop Diego, San Marcos and Santa Barbara High, and also included retaining players from last year.
“You start locally,” Moropoulos said of recruiting. “This is the hardest level I’ve ever coached at, and I’ve coached at about five different levels. There’s constant turnover, and there’s not much you can do about it.
“It’s important to sell yourself to the [returners] that went through last year, didn’t give up on us, stayed and got through it… Some of the guys who went through last year can really help. They’ve been there, and they’ve seen that.”
Linebacker Nelson Smith (6-1, 205) is one of those returning players and is fresh off a Second Team All-Conference season. He will look to make another big impact for the SBCC defense this fall, which will have a new look under defensive coordinator Mike Arellano, who coached at Santa Barbara High for the last 12 years.
“It’s an all-new defense, compared to last year… Coach Mike, he’s really honed in on the specific players’ strengths,” Smith said. “Both on the D-line and the O-line, we got some more size. That’s going to be huge for us.”
Meanwhile, the Vaquero passing attack will feature plenty of returners from last year’s team, including tight end Aidan Woods and wide receivers Kerek Kato (6-0, 170), Luke McNeil (5-11, 165), Dominic Dadkhah (5-8, 160) and Ayden Staricco (6-3, 175).
“Their character is built, and now they’re going to try to impart that on the other guys and be leaders,” Moropoulos said of the returning players.
As for the local products, Bishop Diego graduates Tua Rojas (5-10, 190) and Oscar Anoai (5-10, 230) could immediately step into impact roles at quarterback and running back, respectively.
While Rojas, who was a three-year starter as a Cardinal, is actively competing for the starting quarterback job with Brooks Trimmer (6-2, 190), Anoai will likely see plenty of playing time out of the backfield.
“It’s definitely a big transition, coming into a quarterback room with other quarterbacks, a new coach, new systems, but it’s definitely been a smooth transition,” Rojas said. “I love Coach Moropoulos and all the other quarterbacks.
“It’s a different process going from being the guy to having other guys around, but I definitely feel like it’s made me push myself harder and make the team better.”
Moropoulos had glowing reviews of the Cardinal pairing that could be the latest local products to shine for the Vaqueros.
“Oscar is one of the most aggressive runners that I’ve seen here in a while… This guy is physical,” Moropoulos said. “Tua Rojas is a great leader. He’s a high-character guy; he brings a lot that is really good for the program.”
Other local high school products include Bishop Diego’s Dominic Herrera, Luca Murphy and Kael Andrade, San Marcos’ Daniel Castro, Christopher Martinez-Avina and Steven Herrera, Santa Barbara’s Jacob Hurtado and Benjamin Starlin, Dos Pueblos’ Brady Walbridge and Carpinteria’s Joseph White.
While Moropoulos and the Vaqueros are more confident heading into this season with their numbers and team identity, it remains a challenging road ahead this fall.
Of SBCC’s seven 3C2A National Northern conference opponents, Mt. San Antonio (No. 5), Ventura (No. 6), and Citrus (No. 19) were all voted as top-20 teams in California heading into the 2026 season.
Fellow conference foes Moorpark, Allan Hancock and Long Beach all received votes as well.
“We’re going to get hit with a lot,” Moropoulos said. “There’s some lumps in the road, but you just don’t give up. Hopefully, you’ve got good shock absorbers, take some lumps and bumps in the road, and not get knocked off course.
“It’s a tough schedule; there are no weaknesses in the conference. We just have to be ready every week.”
The Vaqueros will open their season against El Camino College on Saturday at 6 p.m. at La Playa Stadium.
“We’re all one brotherhood, we’re all in this together,” Rojas said. “We know last year it was a bit of a struggle, but everyone that’s come back and that’s here, we are here for a reason. I think we’ll shock some people, and we’re ready to rock.”
