Friday Night Lights Return to Santa Barbara
High School Football is back in All its Glory
A raucous home crowd packed into Peabody Stadium eager to enjoy a Friday night football game in August.
But the celebration of normalcy didn’t last long for the Santa Barbara faithful as visiting Saugus pounded the Dons 35-0 in the season opener for both teams.
“We’re a talented team. I’m not discouraged by any means,” said Santa Barbara High coach J.T. Stone. “We played a good football team tonight, but we have a lot of things to fix at practice and hopefully we can get the ball rolling.”
Sophomore quarterback Abel Renteria made his first start for Santa Barbara against a Saugus team that went undefeated in the spring and hails from the rugged Foothill League. He finished 12 of 19 for 44 yards with one interception.
Despite the modest numbers there were flashes of poise, athleticism, and arm talent to build upon.
“We’re not good enough to make mistakes right now,” Stone said. We have a sophomore quarterback. He played OK but made a lot of mistakes and so did our receivers. The whole thing is about team.”
The game was tied at zero at the end of the first quarter, but Saugus reeled of 21 unanswered points in the second quarter to break the game open.
Saugus quarterback Sebastian Dallaire a converted wide receiver tossed three touchdown passes. Two went to junior wide receiver Khai Ky-Yeith in third-and-long situations that ripped the heart out of an otherwise solid Santa Barbara defense.
The Dons will look to right the ship next Friday at Thousand Oaks.
San Marcos 25 Morro Bay 14
The Royals open the Ralph Molina era with a resounding victory. The Royals jumped out to a 13-7 lead at halftime and pulled out the win. San Marcos will travel to Santa Maria next week with an opportunity to improve to 2-0.
Nipomo 21 Santa Ynez 16
Gabriel Sanchez clinched the win for the Titans with an interception late in the fourth quarter that thwarted the Pirates comeback bid.
Lompoc 48 Paso Robles 27
Idaho State commit Deville Dickerson notched a kick return touchdown, a punt return touchdown and a receiving touchdown as the Braves went up 41-13 at halftime and cruised to victory.
