JT Stone has developed some talented quarterbacks in his time as Santa Barbara High’s football coach.
Sophomore Abel Renteria is his latest pupil, and the young quarterback has impressed in his first varsity season.
Two weeks ago, he completed 17 of 18 passes, threw for two touchdowns, and ran for two in a 42-7 win over Righetti.
And in last Friday’s “Big Game” debut against San Marcos, he threw four touchdown passes in the first half of a 40-7 victory, and was voted the Gary Blades Memorial Big Game MVP award winner.
Renteria was presented the MVP trophy by Chris Rabe, the creator of the award named in honor of his friend, at the Monday luncheon.
“Abel’s young and he’s done a great job for us,” said Stone. “I ask a lot from him, obviously, playing the position of quarterback as a sophomore. In what we do offensively, there is a lot that we desire. But he can take me, he listens to me, he gets yelled at, and he does everything I ask him to do.
“He’s got two more years to deal with me, and he’s going to turn into a very good quarterback. But he’s done great for our team. And for a sophomore, he’s asked to carry the load, so I’m very proud of him.”
Senior Anthony Lopez has been a go-to player for Renteria.
“A special player for us,” Stone said of Lopez. “It’s taking me four years to get this kid to really channel the type of player that he is.”
Stone said Lopez is dangerous every time he touches the ball. He’s caught three touchdown passes in the last two games.
“We expect him to do big things for us the rest of the way, but he’s definitely a fun player to watch,” said Stone.
The Dons play at Ventura on Friday night.
“We’re hoping to get through this Ventura game at 4-1, and get ready for Lompoc the week after that,” said Stone.
The Lompoc game will be the Channel League opener.
SBCC Football
After falling behind with a little over two minutes to go, SBCC got a great kickoff return and drove down the field to kick the winning field goal with four seconds left to win its home opener over West L.A., 23-21.
“That’s always, as you well know, a little perseverance in some tough times,” said SBCC coach Craig Moropoulos. “I was proud of our guys.”
He introduced linebacker Tyler Haughney of New Jersey and slotback Marcus Bellon of Truckee as key players in the victory.
“He is the spark we needed and he’s a hard guy to tackle,” said Moropoulos of Bellon.
SBCC is scheduled to host Orange Coast College on Saturday at 6 p.m., but Orange Coast is experiencing a COVID-19 issue, and had its game last Saturday postponed, Moropoulos reported.
“It’s kind of up in the air,” he said of the game at La Playa Stadium on Saturday, “but we’ll know by Wednesday if they’re going to be able to play, or we’ll have to reschedule.”
San Marcos Boys Water Polo
Kenzie Snyder, a former UCSB water polo player who is now assisting at San Marcos, said the Royals suffered a couple of tough losses in the Santa Barbara Invitational, but had a big win over Los Osos, 16-11.
She said Nic Prentice led the attack with six goals, and goalie Chris Vannier had 12 saves, including two stops on penalty shots.
The Royals are home Tuesday against Ventura.
UCSB Men’s Water Polo
Assistant coach Stephen Loomis said the Gauchos are “probably the oldest team age-wise in the NCAA, with a lot of fifth-year seniors.”
One of those seniors is transfer Sawyer Rhodes, who is a Santa Barbara alum and a solid goal scorer. He played on a national championship team at USC in 2018 after transferring from Stanford, and is finishing his collegiate career in his hometown.
The Gauchos are 8-1 in the early season. They went goal-crazy in five games at the Inland Empire Classic in Redlands over the weekend, averaging 27 goals, “which is a lot for water polo,” said Loomis.
UCSB’s only loss this season was against No. 1 UCLA in the season-opening UC San Diego Triton Invitational. The Gauchos led until the fourth period and lost 14-12. They get another chance at the Bruins on Saturday at Campus Pool.
“It should be a great season for the Gauchos. Come out and show some support,” said Loomis.
Dos Pueblos Girls Golf
Coach Dan Choi introduced seniors Vicky Tang and Marissa Ortiz, who started playing golf in their freshman year.
“I’m just really proud of how far they’ve come along,” said Choi.
He said Tang has the nickname OPV — One Putt Vicky.
Ortiz has a love of music and singer/songwriter Harry Styles, and “cracks us up on the golf course all the time,” said Choi.
The coach added: “It’s really nice when you have student athletes who are: one, super smart; two, good athletes, but also a lot of fun to hang out with.”
Dos Pueblos plays rival San Marcos on Tuesday.
Dos Pueblos Cross Country
After sweeping the top eight places in the Channel League Preview Meet, the DP girls had an impressive showing in the three-mile long-course race at the Ojai Invitational, said co-coach Jen Brown.
Led by Athlete of the Week Phoebe Wolfe Lyons, the Chargers finished second to an all-senior Saugus team, which is ranked fourth in CIF-SS Division 1.
“That’s a pretty good showing by DP,” said Brown. “We’re excited for the season. We’ve got the Woodbridge Invitational coming up next weekend in Norco, and that’s going to pit us against the biggest and best teams in all of California.”
Santa Barbara High Boys Water Polo
Ryan Drake and Sean O’Brien are two members of a strong senior class for the Dons this season.
Drake is one of the team’s best shooters.
Coach Mark Walsh said Drake has caught fire after a slow start to the season. He scored six of the team’s nine goals in one game.
“I thought that was a good boost for him because if he’s not hitting shots, then we’re going to struggle. He’s seen the ball go in a few times, so now I think he’s going to start lighting it up.”
O’Brien picked up the pace when Drake was struggling, Walsh noted.
“He’s one of our fastest swimmers and he’s just a nightmare matchup on offense. It’s just really hard to defend him.”
Walsh said Drake and O’Brien created a lot of havoc for some of the teams they beat in last weekend’s Santa Barbara Invitational. The Dons notched impressive victories over perennial powers Mira Costa and Loyola.
“They’ve given us a lot o trouble over the last few years, so it was nice to give it back to them one time before these guys graduate,” said Walsh.
Santa Barbara High Girls Golf
Coach Ryan Throop thanked pros Don Parsons and Glenn Hoffman of Twin Lakes for they work they’ve done with his golfers..
Throop introduced senior Ella Sales, who didn’t start playing golf until her sophomore year and worked with Parsons and Hoffman.
She earned medalist honors in a match this season.
“She’s probably our best short-game player. Inside 100 yards she’s very consistent,” said Throop.
Sales carries a 4.7 GPA in the classroom.
Lefty Jasmine Zukor is a sophomore who hits the straightest off the tee, said Throop.
She also is a standout in the classroom with a 4.5 GPA.
“She just always has a positive attitude,” said Throop. “She keeps the attitude light on the team. I really appreciate her.”
Throop also gave a shoutout to Randy Shannon at Santa Barbara Golf Club, where the Dons play a lot of their home matches.
“He’s always been there and is very generous with junior golf and the high school golf teams in town.”
Westmont Men’s Soccer
Assistant Sports Information Director Jacob Norling noted that longtime Westmont men’s coach Dave Wolf will be seeking the 350th win of his career on Wednesday when the Warriors host Bethesda at 3:15 p.m.
San Marcos Girls Golf
Coach Sarah Ashton thanked the staff at Sandpiper Golf Course and Santa Barbara Golf Club for allowing the high school teams to play matches there.
“Golf is expensive and those courses have been really great to us, allowing us to have some really young players really love the game,” she said.
Ashton introduced sophomores Stella Ashamalla, Evelina Erickson, Sophia Torrey and Riley O’Brien.
“We had our first first season in the spring, so we’ve been together a lot in the past calendar year. And these girls have been able to play a lot of golf together,” said Ashton.
She added that she couldn’t ask for a better group to teach the three freshman on how things go on the course.
Bishop Diego Girls Golf
Coach MeLinda Matsumoto said sophomore India Longo picked up golf in the spring and has made great improvement in her game. She also has a 4.7 GPA.
Senior Jessica Froelicher is one of the team’s senior captains. Matsumoto said she’s helping the new players learn the ins and outs of golf and is very encouraging.
Bishop Diego Football
Seniors Gabe Martinez and Joseph Nanai had big games in the Cardinals’ 51-3 victory at Redondo Union last Friday.
Martinez, a fullback and linebacker, caught four passes for 97 yards and a touchdown and ran twice for 18 yards.
On defense, “he had one of those moments you dream about as a defensive player: seeing the quarterback’s back as you’re blitzing off the edge and making a strip sack on that play,” said athletic director and assistant football coach Aaron Skinner. “Gabe is the epitome of the coach on the field. He gets the why behind the scheme, so it’s invaluable to have him on the field.”
Nanai plays a number of positions on the offense.
“He’s very versatile offensively — runs the ball well, catches the ball well, is physical as a blocker,” said Skinner. “When he’s in the game, it’s kind of unpredictable in what we’re doing.”
On defense, Nanai player as a hybrid linebacker.
Skinner said he’s still looking for a game to fill Bishop’s bye week this weekend. The game would replace the Week Zero game against Righetti that was canceled due to a COVID-19 issue at Righetti.
Dos Pueblos Football
Coach AJ Pateras introduced seniors Merrick Foster, Jordan Rico and Tim Lisi.
Foster is a two-way lineman, but Pateras has some different ideas in how to use him.
“This week we’ve got some plans for him to have a little more fun on offense,” he said.
Foster’s blocking was a big reason the Chargers gained over 200 yards on the ground last week at Buena.
“We’re excited to build off that,” said Pateras.
Rico is become more efficient as a passer, Pateras said.
Lisi is a standout receiver and a leader on the field and on campus.
“He’s doing great things for our campus with our ASB,” said Pateras.
“I’ve had great conversations with these three young men about the direction we’re headed and the roles they play in getting us there,” he said. “I want to thank all three of you guys.”
Pateras said the team is still trying to find its footing on consistency. “I think we established some on offense last week but then kind of regressed defensively. And that’s been a characteristic of us so far.”
The Chargers host Royal on Friday night.
Dos Pueblos Water Polo
The Chargers are experiencing the highs and lows of having a young team.
“For our season so far, we’re starting out very rough,” said coach Bryan Snyder. “We have kind of a brand new team. A lot of guys are going a lot of minutes, playing entire games, that have never really played varsity minutes before.”
Snyder introduced “two of my more consistent players these past couple of years:” goalie Aiden Traeger and Kai Eden.
Traeger is averaging around 10 blocks and five steals a game.
“The games would be a lot less close if not for him in the goal,” said Snyder.
Eden does whatever Snyder needs him to do in the field.
“It’s really great to have someone like that on the team,” said the coach.
“These kids are both above 4.0 students looking to play at very prestigious colleges. It’s awesome to have guys like that. They’re good role models in the pool and in the classroom.”
The Chargers play this weekend at the South Coast Tournament in Orange County, where they’ll face tough competition.
“We’ll go down and get a lot of great competition and hopefully figure some things out offensively and defensively. Then when we hit league, we’ll have our foot on the ground and hit it with full force,” said Snyder.
Carpinteria Water Polo
Assistant coach Stephen Kim brought seniors Mateo Handall, the team captain, and Gavin Lohuis.
Kim said Handall is an excellent player. His ability to see the game and anticipate has helped the Warriors be successful.
“Our defense has been really strong because of him,” said Kim
Kim said Lohuis also excels on defense player and does a good job anticipating plays.
“This is one of our successes this year because our defense has been really, really strong and we’ve been able to keep up with other teams because of that,” said Kim.
The Warriors last weekend knocked off host Malibu and top-seeded Palisades at the Malibu Tournament, where they finished third.
They host Foothill Tech on Tuesday and play at Buena on Thursday.
— Noozhawk sports editor Barry Punzal can be reached at bpunzal@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk Sports on Twitter: @NoozhawkSports. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
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