Channel League football and volleyball coaches share stories about the first week of the season
San Marcos High School football coach Ralph Molina’s visit to the Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table’s first press luncheon of the 2022-23 school year on Monday took him back 45 years, when he was a quarterback at Bishop Diego.
“We’d just beat Carpinteria, the No. 1 team in CIF and the defending CIF champs,” he recalled. “Elmo Ferrari, the head coach, was walking pretty tall that day; he had his Bear Bryant (houndstooth) hat on.”
Molina remembered seeing coaching legends Bob Dinaberg of SBCC, Dick Mires of Dos Pueblos, Santa Barbara High’s Mike Moropoulos and Sut Puailoa of San Marcos.
“All these legends I grew up looking at and admiring as coaches,” he said. “And now, all these years later, who is back taking care of the kids and still honoring them? The Round Table. Thank you. What a great opportunity and what a great program this is to take care of our players.”
FOOTBALL REWIND
Dos Pueblos
It was a wild sequence of events that led up to Dos Pueblos beating Burbank, 22-19, on Greg Tripathi’s 41-yard field on the last play of the game last Friday night in Burbank.
It started with a 50-yard run to the Burbank 10-yard line with about 50 seconds left, DP coach AJ Pateras explained.
The Chargers then bobbled a handoff and the Burbank defensive end caught it and sprinted down the field. Quarterback Ryan Marsh chased him down and made the tackle at about midfield.
“I’m thinking the game is won and then the next thing you’re like, ‘Oh my gosh,” Pateras said. “We got to get a stop, and our defense was great.”
The DP defense, led by senior lineman Nic Bitar, came up big and forced Burbank to punt. The Bulldogs had a bad snap and the punter put his knee on the ground as he fielded the ball at their 35-yard line.
“We had 45 seconds and a timeout,” Pateras said. “We were able to run three plays, and on the third play our quarterback slipped through a couple of tackles. It looked like (the play) might have been blown dead, but he kept fighting. And he threw (the ball) out as he was going to the ground and our receiver Daniel Johnson caught it, sprinted to the sidelines and got out of bounds.”
Pateras sprinted to the spot Johnson went out and called time out.
“(The officials) gave us one second,” he said. “And I knew for a fact that Greg was going to nail it. He probably could have hit it from 50, it had that much leg.
“So, a great way to start the season.”
Besides his game-winning kick, Tripathi kicked a 31-yard field goal, had two extra points, put his kickoffs in the end zone and didn’t have a punt returned.
“He kept us on positive field position the entire game with his great hang time on his punts,” the coach said. “It was a really great day for him.”
Pateras praised Dylan Orquiola. He intercepted a pass, stopped a two-point conversion “and was a calming presence in the secondary,” the coach said.
He said Bitar “was unblockable” against Burbank. “It’s been that way in practice as well. Just a monster game for him.”
The Chargers host Nordhoff on Friday night.”
San Marcos
Molina introduced senior quarterback Josh Engel and running back Andre McCullough, who led the Royals to a season-opening win at Morro Bay.
Of Engel, “He’s our guy. He’s the guy who is going to lead us offensively,” Molina said.
The coach liked the patience that McCullough showed in the opener. He rushed for 213 yards on 23 carries and scored a touchdown.
“Everybody we play is going to be keying on him, and he was very patient and took what they gave him. He never got shook up,” Molina said.
The Royals’ bus overheated on the long trip to Morro Bay. Fortunately, the team left early and made it to the game in time.
Molina also noted that the grass field at Morro Bay hadn’t been mowed.
“I think it was the thickest grass I’ve ever seen. But we survived, and we had four sophomores start and played really, really well for us,” he said.
The Royals are home Friday against Santa Maria.
Santa Barbara High
Coach J.T. Stone credited the Dons’ impressive 48-19 win over North Torrance to the performance of the offensive line.
“Really, these guys right here are the reason why we won this game,” he said in introducing junior center A.J. Gomez and freshman tackle Malaki Johnston.
“These past three weeks it’s been a lot of learning, a lot of grinding, a lot of film work, a lot of putting in the time to make sure these kids are ready for this game. And I can’t thank these two enough for being just awesome teammates, leaders, coaching these kids.”
Stone said the linemen even watched film shot from a drone during practice to get a better understanding of their assignments.
“These guys put in the work and I was very happy with their efforts,” he said. “We were able to rush for close to 200 yards, which was good for us because we like to throw the ball.”
Santa Barbara heads to Central Section division champion Righetti on Friday night.
GIRLS VOLLEYBALL
San Marcos
Longtime volleyball coach Dwayne Hauschild raved about the high level of girls volleyball he saw this weekend at the Bishop Diego Cardinal Classic at the UCSB Thunderdome.
“We got sandwiched between DP and Santa Barbara on our courts and you got kids like (Athlete of the Week) Shae (Delany of Santa Barbara) hammering off hands and into the bleachers on one side and Chloe (Hoffman of Dos Pueblos) on the other side chiseling people and killing balls.”
Hauschild brought two of the Royals’ big senior attackers and captains, outside hitter Riley Green and middle Eloise McGibben, as well as talented sophomore setter Josie Gamberdella.
“I brought these three girls because they had a great week and they’re going to have a fantastic season,” said Hauschild.
San Marcos finished third in the Cardinal Classic.
The Royals are home Tuesday against Santa Ynez.
Dos Pueblos
Dos Pueblos senior outside hitter Chloe Hoffman paced the DP attack throughout the week. The Chargers lost two regular-season matches before finishing 5-1 and earning a share of third-place at the Cardinal Classic. Hoffman was named to the all-tournament team.
Lucy Speier added to the DP attack. She put away 26 kills in the tournament.
The Chargers travel to Oak Park on Tuesday.
Santa Barbara
Second-year coach Kristin Hempy, who guided the Dons to a CIF-SS title in her first year, is happy how the team has started the season.
The Dons won their first two non-league matches, in five and four sets, respectively, and then finished fifth at the Cardinal Classic at UCSB.
Senior outside hitter Shae Delany and junior libero Tessa de Albergaria have been key to the early success.
Hempy recalled a moment in a match when the team was struggling in a set and Delany stepped up to bring the momentum back to her side.
“Shae stepped up and said, ‘Set me,’ and she got the kill,” Hempy said. “She’s just been that player, the one you can go to when you really need it.”
Hempy is impressed with Albergaria’s athleticism.
“She’s just crazy athletic, the girl will touch anything. Things that would normally hit the ground with another average player, she is there, somehow miraculously making the dive. She’s going to be really solid for our defense this year. I’m looking forward to her development and how that’s going to pace our back row.”
The Dons have a big challenge on Tuesday, taking on Sierra Canyon at J.R. Richards Gym. Sierra Canyon is considered one of the top teams in Southern California.
NOTES
Monday’s press luncheon marked the start of Alison Bernal’s two-year term as SBART president.
Bernal is an attorney and a former UCSB swimmer.
“I’m very honored to be the president for the next two years, and I’m looking forward to meeting the coaches and the student athletes, and seeing you guys every week,” she said.
Also attending their first luncheon were Kelly Barsky, UCSB interim athletic director, and Kristen Keller, the associate athletic director for communications at the university.
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