Coach J.T. Stone gave two thumbs up to the film of a rotten football game.
Santa Barbara High’s season-opening, 35-0 loss to Saugus served as a good tutorial for the Dons, who rebounded with a 27-3 victory at Thousand Oaks on Friday.
“It was a humbling experience,” Stone said during Monday’s Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table press luncheon at Harry’s Plaza Café. “But I’m a firm believer in film the next morning. We got in there at 8 a.m. and didn’t get out until 1 (p.m.).
“It was something that we needed, and we learned a lot and rebounded. It was something that had to be done.”
Junior Nathan Barrios led the way as both a running back and linebacker against Thousand Oaks, he added.
“He ran the ball six times and had about 90 yards, a bunch of tackles and a few sacks,” Stone said. “He was all over the place.”
He did decide to have two-way star Trent Williams spend most of the night at wide receiver to kick-start Santa Barbara’s offense.
“He’s a football player who has the opportunity to play at the next level,” Stone said. “The last game, he really came out of his shell. He made some killer catches. We’re going to ask a lot out of him this week when we play Righetti.”
San Marcos Football
The Royals, who are taking their bye week this Friday, get two weeks to study film of the Dons before venturing cross town to Peabody Stadium on Sept. 10. San Marcos is 2-0 after last week’s 13-6 win at Santa Maria.
“It’ll give us a week to prepare and heal up a little bit,” San Marcos coach Ralph Molina said. “It is nice to start the season 2-0. It’s been a while since we’ve had a 2-0 start.”
He credited a pair of junior recruits off the Royals’ Channel League championship basketball team for the fast start. Owen Lauderdale has been a force on defense, making 12 tackles and an interception at Santa Maria, while Andre McCullough’s impact included 125 yards rushing and a crucial, late touchdown run against the Saints.
“Owen started out as a free safety for us — he’s a really good free safety — and he showed that he can come up and make the big plays for us at outside linebacker, too,” Molina said. “He’s only played the position for two weeks. He’s really talented.
“As for Andre, it was the second game in a row in which he had over 100 yards. They were keying on him and he was patient, and then in the fourth quarter he broke off a 78-yard touchdown that wound up being the winning score.”
Dos Pueblos Football
New coach A.J. Pateras inherited mostly a new team, but he had a good feeling after a 21-7, season-opening loss at Nordhoff. He likes the leadership he sees from two seniors, free safety Nico Rodriguez and tight end-cornerback Osiris Fox, as he enters Friday’s home opener against Ventura.
“With about 90 percent of our roster playing their first varsity football game last Thursday, these guys on the football field, these guys in the locker room, these guys in the classroom, and these guys on campus are really important for the development of these young guys,” Pateras said. “Nico is on the field directing traffic. He’s been an extension of the coaching staff. He also had a huge interception.
“Osiris Fox is playing both sides of the ball, offense and defense. He caused a big fumble early in the first quarter that got us the ball when Nordhoff was driving.”
Bishop Diego Football
The Cardinals opened their season with a 52-0 rout of Oxnard after watching film of the Yellowjackets’ 56-0 trouncing of Quartz Hill.
“They were pretty physically dominant in that game, controlled the line of scrimmage, so we knew we had to come out strong and fast and kind of take the wind out of their sails,” Bishop athletic director Aaron Skinner said. “We really couldn’t have written a better script for doing that.”
Jayden Martinez’s touchdown return of an Oxnard fumble helped the Cardinals score three touchdowns in the opening minutes. Skinner described him as the leader of both the offensive and defensive lines.
“He may not be the biggest guy that we have, but he plays a physical brand of football,” he said. “He also has incredible feet. It’s one of the reasons he was able to return a fumble for his first-ever touchdown.”
Senior quarterback Michael Luckhurst also combines physical prowess with strong leadership skills.
“He’s taken control of the huddle and taken control of the receivers, giving them pointers,” Skinner said. “That’s something that might not have happened as much last year.
“There also really aren’t that many throws — or any throws — that he can’t make. We can put him on the line, on the opposite hash, (and he can throw) 15 yards on the sideline, which not a lot guys can do. His leg is very lively, too … We gave him a shot at a 60-yard field goal and he barely missed it to the left.”
The Cardinals, who are ranked 56th in the state by MaxPreps, will play host to a Garces Memorial team that’s ranked even higher at No. 54. The Bakersfield powerhouse improved to 2-0 with a 45-31 win over Paraclete.
“They controlled the line of scrimmage up front and ran for 400 yards, so it’s going to be a tough test for us this week,” Skinner said, “and we’re looking forward to it.”
Laguna Blanca Football
Matthew Escobar won his debut as the Owls’ eight-man football coach with a 42-38 victory over Orcutt Academy. Leading the way was another newcomer, freshman Sam Narva, and sophomore James Couvillion.
“Sam managed to rack up 225 total yards and four touchdowns,” Escobar pointed out. “He had two kickoff returns for 70-plus yards and took the first offensive play to the house.
“James had 10 tackles on defense, one pass defense, and one huge fumble recovery.
“These guys are young. We don’t have a lot of seniors on our team, only about five. The rest are underclassmen, so we have a bright future with these guys.”
Dos Pueblos Girls Volleyball
Junior Chloe Hoffman, the Athletic Round Table’s Female Athlete of the Week, and senior honorable mention pick Portia Sherman are the powerful one-two punch of a Chargers team that improved to 12-3 with a third-place finish at the tough Camarillo Stingers Tournament.
“They’re a killer outside hitter combo … the best I’ve seen in a really long time,” DP coach Megan O’Carroll said. “Chloe and Portia are both Division 1-bound athletes. They are just incredible to watch.
“If one is having an off match, the other one has an on match.”
They both also serve as team captains, along with senior libero Erin Curtis.
“Erin had an incredible weekend, as well,” O’Carroll said. “She was outstanding, did a great job of getting to her marks. I had many coaches come up to tell me at the end how outstanding she was and how much they enjoyed watching her.”
San Marcos Girls Volleyball
The Royals (4-0) are also riding the play of a stellar libero. Analese Alvarez quoted head coach Tina Brown as calling junior Lily Blankenhorn “one of the best to ever come through our program.”
“She has a natural instinct for the game and does not let a ball drop on the court without making a tremendous effort,” she said. “She’s also at the center of our passing and essentially runs the backcourt. She’s fun to watch play.”
Brooke Hoadley, meanwhile, has been a force in the middle for San Marcos.
“She brings a lot of experience from club volleyball and is one of only three players that have any varsity experience on our team this year,” Alvarez said. “She’s a talented blocker and has great vision on the court as an attacker.”
Laguna Blanca Girls Volleyball
Veteran coach Jason Donnelly has a young team which lost a pair of tough matchups at the Bishop Diego Tournament, but at least he’s extremely familiar with outside hitter Amelia Fowler and libero Frances Carlson.
“I’ve known these two girls since they were in the third grade,” he said of his two stars. “Amelia continues to get better and is one of our better passers, and she’s been taking some big swings for us.
“Frances is our captain. We had a kid get hurt in the middle at the Bishop Tournament so we also put her at middle blocker … She just smiled the whole time.”
Bishop Diego Girls Volleyball
The Cardinals (4-3) have a tough week ahead with home matches tonight against DP and Laguna Blanca on Thursday. Two senior captains — setter Amy Mancinelli and middle blocker Kylie Zimmerman — give coach Dillan Bennett hope for some good results.
Skinner quoted Bennett as describing Mancinelli as one of his “most consistent players.”
“She has a very even-keeled approach to playing the game,” he said. “She’s one of our top students in the class of 2022 and plays golf, soccer and softball.”
Zimmerman brings “a wealth of experience in the game,” he added. “I’m most proud of how mature she’s become, and now she’s accepted her role as a leader on the team,” he said. “She’s one of our best servers and she continues to develop as a blocker.
“We’ll need big games out of both of these seniors if we plan to be competitive this week.”
Dos Pueblos Girls Tennis
Fourth-year coach Laura Housinger said an extremely young Chargers squad will be led by captains Kate Scherz and Adviel Amador when they open their season against Carpinteria on Wednesday.
“Kate is one of our top singles players and one of the toughest players on the court,” she said. “Adviel has been one of our top doubles players for the past four years.
“We have 25 new players this year … We’re looking forward to see what these girls have to offer. They have great attitudes and coaching them has been very enjoyable.”
San Marcos Girls Tennis
The Royals return two of their top singles players in junior Natasha Gill— last year’s Channel League singles champion — and sophomore Cristina Wickline.
“Natasha started off kind of slow last year but got better and better, and then did a great job in the first round of the playoffs,” athletic director Abe Jahadhmy said. “This year, we’re going to start off where we left off because the team was so young. Cristina and Natasha are big parts of our program.”
Carpinteria Water Polo
Aaron Smith, who has been assisting the Warriors’ powerhouse program, said the team is aiming high after its 12-8 upset of Dos Pueblos and 14-0 whitewash of Royal. His son Asher has showed a good shooting aim after scoring eight goals against DP and four more against Royal.
“This is one of the strongest water polo teams that we’ve ever had,” he said. “We have eight seniors who are all really good, and Asher is a sophomore. We’re hoping for some good things … We’re hoping for a CIF (Division 5) title.”
Bishop Diego Cross Country
The Cardinals, who are gearing up for their first Tri-County Association meet on Sept. 17, are led by fourth-year senior and team captain Rowan Manriquez.
“He shows great leadership skills to our younger athletes,” Skinner said. “Rowan is a master in king hill workouts. During the hilly runs, he flies up the hill.”
UCSB Men’s Soccer
Coach Tim Vom Steeg pointed out the quirky scoresheets of the Gauchos’ first two matches: a 7-1 win over the University of San Diego and a 1-1 tie with Cal.
“We had 14 shots and scored seven goals (against USD),” he pointed out. “And then against Berkeley, we had 19 shots and one goal. That’s our sport.
“We would’ve liked to have taken a couple from Thursday and carried them over to Sunday, but we can’t really do that. But were excited about this group.”
The Gauchos will play host to USF on Friday night before beginning a three-game road trip at Stanford on Monday.
UCSB Women’s Soccer
The Gauchos (1-2-1) have scored only twice in four matches, although the golden goal scored by freshman midfielder Sophia Vivar did give them a 1-0, overtime win over Sacramento State.
“We had some encouraging signs,” assistant coach Patrick Mahon said. “We’re pretty young and we’re still trying to figure out what’s best for our team.
“The big thing for us is learning how to score. I think we had 19 shots against Sacramento and had only one in the box, inside the 18.”
UCSB’s offense will look to break out today in a 4:30 p.m. home match against Cal State Los Angeles.
Westmont Men’s Soccer
The Warriors will open their season on Friday at Claremont Mudd Scripps, but even their home opener on Monday against Rocky Mountain won’t be at Thorrington Field. That field is undergoing some renovations so the home match will be played at Lovik Field on the lower part of campus.
“The men have 11 freshmen, so figuring out how to combine those new players with the returners has been a real challenge,” sports information director Ron Smith said. “But I think they’re starting to come together.”
Westmont Women’s Soccer
Coach Jenny Jaggard will integrate a dozen freshmen into her squad when they open their season against Southern Oregon at Lovik Field on Wednesday at noon.
“She said this team is very young and high-energy,” Smith said. “She anticipates that as many as six talented freshmen will make significant contributions this week.
“However, this team will be reliant on our upper classmen and our captains, mainly Teagan Matye, Reese Davidson and Kailey Meyer, to set the tone and bring the composure that we need with such a young roster.”
UCSB Women’s Volleyball
The Gauchos got a good tuneup for this weekend’s Gaucho Invitational, losing 3-2 to both Illinois and Valparaiso before beating Wisconsin-Green Bay 3-1.
“We had a big game against Illinois, No. 12 in the nation,” assistant coach Adlee Van Winden said. “We really like what we see. Our girls played all summer in training.”
UCSB will open tournament play against San Diego State on Friday at 6 p.m. before facing both Kansas State and Pepperdine on Saturday.
Westmont Women’s Volleyball
The Warriors (4-2) are ranked 15th in the NAIA but hope to move up higher once star Patty Kerman returns from the injured list. They will face four top-20 teams this week at the Omaha Tournament.
“Patty has been a steady person for us on the floor, off the court,” coach Ruth McGolpin said. “She has a GPA of 3.96, so she’s a really smart girl.
“We’ve got a young group. We have, at any point because of the injuries, three freshmen starting. But what’s been good with injuries is those freshmen and sophomores are getting a ton of time because we’re going to need them down the stretch.”
SBCC Women’s Volleyball
The Vaqueros bounced back from a season-opening loss at Bakersfield to win its next two matches at a four-team tournament. Setter Emma Crabbe led the way with 92 assists, 25 digs and six aces.
“She basically won’t let the team lose,” coach Kat Niksto said. “I think she works harder than anyone in the gym. She has that constant drive that you can’t coach. She’s also like a third coach on the court, directing traffic, telling you when to change your defense, just giving you any input that she sees … and it’s all good.”
She added that San Marcos High graduate Bella Johnson came alive in the third match, pounding 16 kills to lead the team past Mt. San Antonio College.
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