Santa Barbara Rallies to beat Calabasas 28-21 on Homecoming Night

An exciting match-up between the Santa Barbara Dons and Calabasas Coyotes went down to the wire, with the Dons capturing their first Conejo Coast League victory, 28-21 on Homecoming night. 

Tied at 21-21 with less than a minute left in the game, the Dons leaned on who else other than senior Kai Mault, who ran a QB draw 46-yards to the house, and sealed the Dons win in epic fashion. 

Santa Barbara’s defense came up huge in the second half. Forcing three critical turnovers, and a pivotal stop to get the ball back that set up the game winning drive. “The defense held up and gave us a chance,” said Head Coach Nate Mendoza. “We handled some adversity and responded on defense. It’s a team game. We brought it back and Kai made a great play on the QB draw.” 

The Dons opened the game on offense and scored in a mere three-play drive and only taking 30 seconds to score a rushing touchdown by senior running back Bode Fauskee. 

Calabasas responded with their own ground game. Junior Kayne Miller found the cutback lane and scored on a big run to even the score 7-7 with 5:29 left in the 1st quarter. 

The Dons punted on the following possession and pinned the Coyotes on their own two-yard line. Calabasas found a way to convert on a tough 3rd down, with sophomore quarterback Domonik Hardy rolling out to his right and finding receiver Stephen Ouvaroff for a 24-yard reception to keep the drive going. 

The next play was a trick play executed to perfection by Calabasas. A quick outlet pass to receiver Dezmyn Hardy got the defense to crash down the flats, but to the surprise of the Dons defense, Hardy was able to pass downfield to Kingston Celifie for a 74-yard touchdown on the double pass trick play. 

The Dons answered right back on offense to start the 2nd quarter. The Dons were able to drive down to the Calabasas 16-yard line, when they turned to the heavy package and ran a QB power to the left and Kai Mault was able to turn on the jets and race around the corner for another Dons touchdown to tie the score at 14-14. 

The Coyote’s were able to start their next possession on their 35- yard line. The connection between brothers, Dominik (quarterback) and Dezmyn Hardy (receiver) was evident on their next offensive drive. Dominik was able to connect with Dezmyn for 3 catches for 20 yards, including a spectacular 4th and goal conversion for a touchdown in the back corner of the endzone with 6:38 left to go making it, 21-14 Calabasas.

The Dons were unable to find a groove on offense and were forced to punt again for their second time on the night. The Dons found themselves needing a stop on defense to stop any further Coyote momentum, which is exactly what they drew up. As Calabasas got their offense moving upfield, standout defensive lineman Carter Hubbard was able to get a key sack for a loss of ten yards, setting up a Calabasas 3rd and 17. Quarterback Domonik Hardy was able to find senior receiver Greg Ellis up the seam to make it 4th and 2 right around mid-field. The Coyotes decided to roll the dice and go for it, but a stout defensive effort by the dons, stuffed the rush attempt causing a turnover on downs. 

Santa Barbara was able to move the ball down field, including a nifty 4th down conversion pass by Mault to senior receiver Sammie Congdon. But with time running low, a deep pass attempt by Mault led to an interception to put an end to the first half with the score sitting at 21-14 Calabasas. 

The Dons defense was the story of the second half, aided by 3 key turnovers that changed the course of the game. Calabasas was able to take their opening possession of the second half all the way down the Santa Barbara 7-yard line, until junior lineman Malachi Johnston stripped the ball causing a fumble to halt the Calabasas drive as the Dons were able to recover the fumble. 

Santa Barbara and Calabasas traded empty possessions on the next few drives, and neither team was able to get much going heading into the 4th quarter. 

Calabasas opened the 4th quarter on offense looking to convert a vital 3rd and 4 to keep their drive going, but the Dons pressure forced Quarterback Domonik Hardy into throwing a pick-6 to Bode Fauskee to even the score 21-21. Giving life to both the Dons sideline and the Peabody stadium crowd. 

The Coyotes took over on offense and found themselves once again contained by the Dons and were forced to punt the ball back to Santa Barbara. 

Momentum was on the Dons side as they were able to move the ball all the way down the field to the Coyotes two-yard line on an important fourth down. A bold decision led the Dons to go for the fourth down conversion with 230-pound junior running back Aaron Baizan taking the snap from under center, but he failed to reach across the goal line. Leaving the score tied with 2 minutes left and the Coyotes having possession.

Nate Mendoza on the decision to go for it instead of taking the field goal, “Yeah, we were debating it the whole time. It was tough, we’re on our backup kicker who’s just doing it because he’s a great team player and at that time didn’t want to give (Calabasas) 1:40 to go the whole field and possibly beat us.”

After the failed conversion the dominant defensive play continued by the Dons. A key tackle by senior linebacker Rafa Mendez on third down led Calabasas to punt away the ball deep in their own territory. The Dons were set-up nicely on their own 46-yard line with plenty of time to get a drive down the field. But Kai Mault decided enough was enough. Mault called game on a QB draw and rushed up the left sideline evading tackles for the go-ahead score making it 28-21 Dons. Calabasas had one last opportunity to score but threw another pick to Bode Fauskee who sealed the game for the Dons and finished with 2 interceptions on the night. 

The Dons move to 5-2-1 Overall, 1-2 in the Conejo League. They will travel down to Westlake and play the 0-8 Warriors. Mendoza on the match-up ahead, “
I think the momentum will stick with us and we’re gonna fight, we’re here to fight. That’s what we’re doing here. Four quarters of football, and we’re excited to stay alive and we’re playing in a really good league. So there’s no easy game. So we go down there and give them everything we got.”