When it came time to talk about Carpinteria’s next football game, assistant coach Rick Candaele was brief and to the point at Monday’s Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table press luncheon:
“Bishop is very good, period, exclamation point,” said Candaele.
The Warriors and Cardinals go at it in a Tri-Valley League clash on Halloween night Saturday at La Playa Stadium. The winner clinches a tie for the league title.
Bishop enters the game with an 8-0 record and a No. 7 ranking in the latest CIF Northern Division poll. Carpinteria is riding a three-game winning streak and is 3-5.
“Coach (Ben) Hallock and coach Candaele have them headed in the right direction,” Bishop coach Tom Crawford said. “I just watched tape (of Carpinteria) and it’s not the same team you see as early in the year when they were depleted by injuries. They got a lot of guys back and they got a lot of momentum going into the game.
“We’re looking forward to a good week of practice and a great challenge on Saturday.”
Crawford said he was proud of the focus and the way his players supported one another in last Friday’s 49-0 win at Fillmore.
He introduced sophomore Dylan Streett and junior Mike Agnoli as two consistent standouts on the team. Streett, a wide receiver and safety, is the team leader in interceptions with six. Agnoli, a tight end and defensive end, is the Cardinals’ leading receiver.
Carpinteria twice intercepted Nordhoff passes after long drives and turned them into touchdowns in last Friday’s 26-7 win in Ojai.
“We had practiced all week on letting them drive the field and get down to about the 10-yard line and we’d put our pass defense team. “And the play was to intercept the ball and go 90 yards and kick off,” Candaele cracked.
Oscar Garcia — the male Athlete of the Week — picked off the Nordhoff quarterback’s pass and returned it 84 yards for a touchdown.
“It worked so well we did it again and we picked off another one and went 90 yards,” Candaele said.
Garcia didn’t play much in the first five games, but in the last three he’s had two interception returns for touchdowns, returned two kickoffs for touchdowns and made two long runs from scrimmage for scores. “And he gives me advice at halftime,” Candaele joked. “He does a little bit of everything.”
The coach also introduced sophomore center David Torres and wide receiver Terrell Richardson.
SPECIAL OLYMPICS ATHETES HONORED
Kyle Petersilia and Steve Krauskopf were honored Monday as the Special Olympics Athletes of Month for the last two months.
Petersilia, who celebrated his 34th birthday on Sunday, has been participating in Special Olympics sports for 15 straight years. He was honored for his play on the softball field. He also plays basketball.
Kyle and his brother, Jeffrey, are staples at San Marcos High athletic events and help out with the football team.
Krauskopf helped the Santa Barbara Special Olympics team win the gold medal at a regional soccer tournament in Santa Maria last weekend. He scored a goal in the first match and recorded a hat trick in the second.
Santa Barbara will be hosting a regional soccer tournament at Girsh Park on Sunday, Nov. 1, at 9 a.m. Another event coming up is the Student Games soccer tournament on Friday, Nov. 6 at Girsh Park.
FOOTBALL
Cate: Three impact players joined coach Ben Soto at the luncheon: Keller Mochel, Dean Smith and Isaiah Washington.
Soto said “he hasn’t seen a better best defensive end in our league than Mochel,” adding the senior is good enough to play in the Channel, Frontier and Tri-Valley Leagues. Smith has grown up with Cate football, going from water boy to an All-CIF player. “He’s a heck of an athlete wherever we put him,” Soto said.
Soto said Washington has the “It” factor on the field. “He has great vision of what he’s going to do before it happens. He sets up his runs really well.”
The Rams travel to Laguna Blanca for the league finale at 2 p.m.
Laguna Blanca: Coach Shane Lopes said he was proud at how his team played in a tough 20-16 loss at Thacher last Saturday. It was the Owls’ first loss of the season.
He cited the rapid improvement of players Philip Fauntleroy and Miles McGovern.
Laguna hosts Cate on Saturday at 2 p.m. An Owls’ win would give them a share of the Condor League title.
SBCC: Craig Moropoulos expressed his disappointment with the special teams in the 12-6 loss at L.A. Pierce. A snap over the punter’s head resulted in a Pierce touchdown.
The coach, however, raved about his defense. “For the second week in a row our defense is just absolutely rising to the occasion,” he said.
The defensive effort was led by the play of cornerbacks Diante Lewis-Jolly and Bryson Parker.
Moropoulos also praised the work of JT Stone with the Santa Barbara High football team. Moropoulos is a former Dons coach. “The program is in good hands,” he said.
San Marcos: Coach Anthony Linebaugh said his team didn’t play well in the first half “and it really cost us our game against Dos Pueblos. It’s disappointing. I was talking to our players and telling them you only get one opportunity in football to face our rivals each year and it’s one to cherish and to harness your focus. And we didn’t do that in the first half.”
He introduced two hard-working senior players, Abe Kesablyan and Ryan Broumand. Kesablyan plays left guard. Broumand has been injured all season but has never missed a practice or a meeting. “He’s showed that he’s truly a team player,” said the coach.
Santa Barbara: Coach JT Stone shared how crazy the season has been for the Dons.
“At the end of the day, we feel like we’re three plays from being 9-1,” he said. “If you’re a football coach, you know when you have games right in your grasp and they slip away it’s a tough. At the same time, we’re excited to play our crosstown rivals in two weeks. Our seniors are really looking forward to this football game and we’re looking to finish 6-4 and hope we get an at-large bid.”
Stone brought his talented receiving corps of seniors Mason Bigelow and Blake Kelley and junior Chris “Tick” Ellison. “These three players mean everything in the world to me,” he said. “I’m extremely proud of the work they put in.”
He called Bigelow “a workhorse and the best receiver in the 805.”
On Kelley: “He does a good job accepting his role.” Jellison is “a special, special player; I’m excited for the future of this young man,” said Stone.
WATER POLO
San Marcos: Coach Jeff Ashton introduced team leaders Miles Cole and Jesse Morrison, both juniors. As 6-4 center, Cole constantly draws double and triple coverage, “so he doesn’t get the recognition he deserves,” Ashton said “A lot of what he’s doing opens up things for other guys. It can be a frustrating job but he does it very well. When he gets the ball, he’s hard to stop.
Morrison has worked through a micro-fracture in his back and “is getting better and better every day,” Ashton said.
The Royals are looking forward to a rematch with Santa Barbara next week.
Carpinteria: Coach Matt Organista said the Warriors were missing two starters when they edged Nordhoff by one goal and lost to Malibu. They are 8-2 in league (both losses to Malibu) and 14-4 on the season.
Organista introduced sophomore goalie Maclain Clayton and field player Wyatt Stevenson and said the team will be at full strength for this week’s game against Cate.
Santa Barbara: Coach Mark Walsh rattled off Santa Barbara’s records of 17-4 overall, 5-0 in Channel League and No. 3 ranking in CIF Division 2.
“What makes that so special is that two years ago we had a losing record and last year, playing with freshman and sophomores, we didn’t qualify for CIF. That’s what makes this season very special for me, so far. Going through the pains of losing with these guys is what makes this season very rewarding.”
Walsh said in his 20 years of coaching he had never started freshmen until last season when he started three. He brought two of them to the luncheon, Adam Gross and Chris Gaffney. Gross leads the team in assists and shots blocked and is third in goal. “He’s a great passer, a good shooter and has great vision,” said Walsh.
Gaffney is a central defender who routinely battles against bigger players. “He does a lot of things defensively for us,” said Walsh.
The Dons head to the PAL Tournament this weekend in Orange County.
SOCCER:
Westmont women: The NAIA fifth-ranked Warriors (10-3-2) can earn a co-championship in the GSAC with wins over Hope International and San Diego Christian this week. The regular-season finale against San Diego Christian will be Senior Day at Westmont.
Westmont men: If the Warriors win out this week against Hope and San Diego Christian, they would earn a home game for the first round of the GSAC Tournament.
UCSB women: “We’re having one of those years where it’s a dream season and we don’t want it to end,” coach Paul Stumpf said the Gauchos, who are 12-4-1 and 5-1 in the Big West with two games remaining.
The Gauchos have clinched a spot in the four-team conference tournament.
“Tick off one of our major goals this year,” Stumpf said. “Next will be the conference tournament.”
Stumpf said he took a real hard look at the program after last season and realized he needed to make changes. He brought in assistant Austin Risenhoover and he’s helped change the culture in the program.
Another key has been the quality of players recruited into the program. Stumpf introduced one of those players, freshman left back Ryan Kokoska from Carmel, Ind.
UCSB plays at co-conference leader Cal State Fullerton on Thursday.
UCSB men: Assistant coach Fifi Baiden said Saturday’s 2-2 tie “definitely felt like a loss.” The Gauchos gave up two late goals, including the tying goal with four seconds left in regulation.
UCSB remains ahead in the standings, one point better than Cal Poly, with two matches remaining in the regular season. The Gauchos host Sacramento State on Wednesday and play at UC Davis on Saturday.
Baiden thanked the community for coming out to the Cal Poly game, which drew 14,919 fans, the second largest on-campus crowd for a regular season game in NCAA history.
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