Tornado Season: Santa Barbara Advances in CIF Playoffs in Double OT Thriller

In one of the most unique traditions in California high school football, each season that Santa Barbara makes it into the playoffs, they become the Golden Tornado, donning their special gold jerseys and tearing their way through postseason tournament play. 

It’s a tradition that dates back to when Santa Barbara High School first started making football headlines under coach Clarence Schutte in the 1920’s — and a tradition that, like many other sports legends, can be attributed to a sports writer playing it fast and loose with nicknames. 

As legend has it, during Santa Barbara’s breakout season in 1929, local sports writers described the Dons’ high powered team as “whisking downfield like a golden tornado” during one particularly successful win streak. The team decided to run with it, and to keep wearing its lucky gold jerseys all the way to the CIF Finals. 

This year, the 2023 Golden Tornado took its high-octane offense and seven-game win streak to Santa Fe Springs to face the St. Paul Swordsmen for a CIF Division 4 first round matchup on Friday that went into double overtime, with Santa Barbara’s stout defense forcing a game-changing turnover and senior standout Abel Renteria putting the team on his back and quarterback sneaking into the second round with a 41-35 win on the game’s final play. 

After the nearly three-hour trip, Santa Barbara came out full of energy from the opening kickoff, taking the first drive into St. Paul territory and taking an early 3-0 lead off a 40-yard field goal from junior Thiago Valerio.

Then Santa Barbara’s defense set the tone on St. Paul’s first offensive drive, forcing a turnover with an interception from senior cornerback Jordan Mitchum, who took the return all the way to the Swordsmen 20-yard line.

Two plays later, Renteria hit senior wide receiver Winston Bartley for a 14-yard touchdown pass, giving the Golden Tornado a 10-0 lead with 5:38 left in the first quarter.

St. Paul would not be shut out, however, and after forcing an interception later in the first quarter, the Swordsmen started leaning heavily on the three-back rushing attack it had found success with all season long, with senior running back Anthony Osorio breaking away for a 60-yard touchdown to give St. Paul its first points of the day, 10-7.

The rest of the first half was an old-school defensive showdown, with St. Paul grabbing another interception on a mistimed double-pass from Santa Barbara’s star wide receiver Kai Mault, then the Golden Tornado defense locking down and forcing a turnover on downs. With just 19 seconds left in the half, Valerio knocked in another field goal for Santa Barbara to send the Golden Tornado into halftime up 13-7.

St. Paul came out again with its heavy run game in the second half, with senior running back Ty Bowers breaking through on a 46-yard run to set the Swordsmen up inside the Santa Barbara five yard line. A few plays later, Bowers powered in for a two-yard touchdown to give St. Paul its first lead of the day, 14-13.

On the very next drive, Santa Barbara did what it had done all year, spreading the wealth on offense with Renteria finding Mault on 30-yard reception to set up the Golden Tornado running attack for senior workhorse Koa Herrera, who punched into the end zone on a four-yard run to give Santa Barbara the 20-14 lead.

St Paul responded by switching up its run attack with a will-timed pass from sophomore quarterback Gabriel Castaneda to senior receiver Nate Calderon on a 42-yard slant to set up another Swordsmen first and goal. St. Paul then took the lead back, 21-20, with a one-yard touchdown run from Osorio at the end of the third quarter.

In the fourth quarter, the Golden Tornado marched down the field again with a run-heavy 68-yard drive featuring jet sweeps from receivers Tomas Gil and Mault, quarterback keepers with Renteria, and handoffs to Herrera. On a third and goal from the one yard line, Renteria used his big frame to reach over the goal line for his first rushing score of the game, then hit Mault for a clutch two-point conversion to give Santa Barbara the 28-20 lead with nine minutes left in the game.

But the game was far from over, and St. Paul mounted a seven-minute, 65-yard drive with four first downs that was capped off with a surprise seven-yard pass to receiver Orlando Zepeda to tie the game at 28-28 with just 1:57 left in the game.

After both teams forced each other to punt in the last two minutes, the game headed into overtime, with Santa Barbara getting the first chance on offense. 

It took the Golden Tornado just two plays to score in the first overtime, with Koa Herrera winding his way on a 19-yard run into the end zone to give Santa Barbara the 35-28 lead.

St. Paul took just one play to even the score on the first overtime, with Castaneda finding Zepeda on a 25-yard pass to send the game into a second overtime.

This time it was Santa Barbara’s defense coming up with the big play, with stellar sophomore Monty Lopez forcing a fumble that was recovered by senior Sammy Perez to set up the Golden Tornado offense for a potential walk-off victory.

On the final drive, Santa Barbara leaned on its big quarterback, calling three straight runs with Renteria, who eventually bullied his way into the end zone from the one-yard line to give the Golden Tornado the 41-35 win and advance into the second round next week against Corona Del Mar.

“He kept coming to us and telling us to put the ball in his hands,” Santa Barbara Head Coach Nate Mendoza said of his quarterback, a three-year starter who now has played in four CIF Playoff games. “He’s a veteran. What a gift to our team and our coaching staff and our community that we got a guy like that leading our football team.”

After the game, Renteria gave credit to his teammates for stepping up in a tight game, adjusting to a run-heavy offense, and getting defensive stops at the right times.

“We know if we play our football we can beat anybody,” Renteria said. “We had confidence in our players, we knew the defense would get stops and the offense would put up points. I couldn’t ask for a better second half from my defense; they made us stay in that game.”

With the win, Santa Barbara (9-2) has now won eight straight games and will advance to the CIF-SS Division 4 Quarterfinal next Friday at home against Corona del Mar (6-5) at Peabody Stadium. If Santa Barbara beats Corona del Mar, the Golden Tornado will host another home game in the Semifinals against either Loyola or Yorba Linda.