Santa Barbara High Football Drops Regular Season Finale to Thousand Oaks 34-28

A chance to secure an automatic playoff berth slipped away from the Santa Barbara High football team on Friday night in Thousand Oaks.

The Dons fought valiantly, but made crucial mistakes late in the fourth quarter of a 34-28 loss to The Lancers in a crucial Conejo Coast League contest. Santa Barbara must now wait until CIF Southern Section Playoff brackets are revealed on Sunday at 10 a.m. to find out if its season will continue.

“We’ve got to regroup.We are going to show up in the morning. We are going to practice like we always do and watch film,” said Santa Barbara coach Nate Mendoza. “We are going to believe that we are getting in. We believe our resume is good enough to get us in somewhere.”

Santa Barbara tied the score at 28-28 with a seven-yard run by Laird Finkel with 6:47 remaining in the fourth quarter. Finkel is still working his way back from a collarbone injury that was suffered on September 20. 

Finkel returned to the lineup in a limited capacity against Westlake and played nearly every snap against Thousand Oaks. However, he was under immense pressure from the Lancers’ defensive front, which contributed to three interceptions. He entered the game with just one interception on the season.

The Santa Barbara defense was able to hold Thousand Oaks off the scoreboard and get the ball back, but a beautiful punt by Ryan Leff pinned the Dons down at their own two-yard line with under three minutes to play.

After a one-yard run by Zane Carter and an incomplete pass by Finkel, The Dons escaped the shadow of their own goal post with a 29-yard pass from Finkel to Bode Fauskee. 

However,  later in the drive, an offensive pass interference penalty created a 3rd-and-25 situation. Finkel lofted a pass deep down the field that was intercepted by Luke Sullivan with just under a minute remaining and returned down to the eight-yard line.

On the next play Justin Lewis powered into the end zone from eight-yards out to give Thousand Oaks a 34-28 lead. The ensuing extra point was missed.

Santa Barbara got the ball back with 47.8 seconds left for a last gasp drive, but Finkel tossed three incompletions and Lewis recorded a sack on fourth down for Thousand Oaks. 

“Our defense stood up in that second half and made some key stops,” Mendoza said. “Their punt at the end of the fourth quarter pinned us back and caused a lot of issues back there.”

Kai Mault helped Santa Barbara get off to a fast start with two first half touchdowns. The first came on a dazzling 47-yard run and tied the score at 7-7 with 1:07 remaining in the first quarter. His second touchdown came on a five-yard pass from Finkel that gave the Dons a 14-7 lead with 9:57 seconds remaining in the first quarter. That play was setup by a backwards pass recovery and 67-yard return by Fauskee.

Santa Barbara (6-3-1 overall, 2-3 Conejo Coast League) led 21-14 in the final moments of the first half when Thousand Oaks quarterback Jackson Taylor connected with Hayden Vercher on a 24-yard touchdown pass with .8 second remaining.  That play shifted momentum in the Lancers’ favor and led to their gutsy second half performance. 

Pacifica 21, Bishop Diego 14

The Cardinals stormed back from a 21-0 deficit in the second half and nearly pulled off a stunning comeback. Jason Loitu and Isaiah Kitt scored second half touchdowns for Bishop Diego in defeat.