Santa Barbara High Football Routs Dos Pueblos 49-0

The crosstown rivalry game between the Santa Barbara Dons and Dos Pueblos Chargers took place at Peabody Stadium on a toasty Friday Night and the Dons, who are coming off a huge win against Valencia, extended their winning streak against a struggling Chargers team with a 49-0 shutout.

Santa Barbara Head Coach Nate Mendoza’s had mixed reviews on the first half. “Sloppy in the first half, lots of penalties, but I thought Laird played really well and the defense started to pick it up. Overall, a real slow and sloppy first half. I thought (Dos Pueblos) best play was a penalty for a long time, but our guys stuck with it and it was a good victory.”

The Dons pressed the pedal to the metal early. The opening drive began with a 21-yard catch and run by Senior Kai Mault, who was a force to be reckoned with all night. The Dons seamlessly drove up the field with two chunk yardage carries from Senior running back Bode Fauskee who powered his way into the endzone for the first Dons touchdown of the night. The drive spanned 1 minute and 30 seconds.

The Chargers took a run focused approach on the night and handed the ball to Junior running back Callan Lee early and often. What looked to be a first down gain for the Chargers was called back by a holding flag, which ended the drive and led to a DP punt on their first offensive possession.

On the ensuing Dons possession, Junior Quarterback Laird Finkel threw a bomb to Senior receiver Tomas Gil for an impressive sideline grab for over 40 yards, setting the Dons up in the red zone. On the very next play, Finkel showed off his pocket presence and bought some extra time to throw a strike to Gil again in the back of the endzone for another quick Dons touchdown, Escalating the score to 14-0 with 7:44 left in the first quarter of play. 

The Chargers gave their best efforts on their next possession by continuing to hand the ball off to Lee. A penalty by the Dons gave the Chargers a much needed 15 yard boost. Dos Pueblos, unfortunately couldn’t find much running room as they tried to progress down field, but were stopped by a fast pursuing Dons defense leading to a fourth down attempt in Dons territory. On 4th and 16, Chargers quarterback Drew Schultz threw a pass into the endzone that missed, but a pass interference penalty put the Chargers in better position to convert the first down, setting up a 4th and 1. A run up the gut by the Chargers was stuffed by a strong effort by the Dons defense.

Santa Barbara continued to score at will on offense. Quarterback Laird Finkel orchestrated an impressive drive, completing passes to 6’1 Senior Carter Debusk and Senior Mason Morales. The Dons found themselves again in the red zone and turned to running back Bode Fauskee again to score another Dons touchdown, making the score 21-0 in the 2nd quarter.

The next Charger possession was a quick 3 and out and punt right back to the Dons. The Dons took over at their 26-yard line and continued their recipe for success by relying on their 3-star Quarterback Laird Finkel to dish out the ball to their playmakers down the field. As the Dons progressed to the red zone again with help from some screenplays to Kai Mault, running back Bode Fauskee entered the endzone for his 3rd time on the day, increasing the Santa Barbara lead to 28-0.

On the ensuing drive Dos Pueblos fumbled the ball on second down, the Dons recovered the ball and were set up at the DP 19-yard line. The Dons scored yet again making it 35-0 to end the abysmal first half for the Chargers.

The scoring and stout defense continued for the Dons in the second half. Junior standout Monty Lopez found his way into the endzone on a drive that was assisted by a great run on a jet sweep from Tomas Gil. Making the score 42-0. The chargers were stuffed once again, and gave the Dons a chance to let receiver Tomas Gil not just get the assist, but score yet another touchdown on an all out effort catch and run up the Santa Barbara sideline to cap the final score at 49-0.

Dos Pueblos goes to 0-3, while Santa Barbara moves on to 3-0 and faces the Moorpark Musketeer’s next week at Peabody Stadium. Head Coach Nate Mendoza on the challenge ahead, “It’s going to be a battle. We’ve seen them on film and they’re a really good team so we’re going to have our hands full next week on Senior Night.”