Fourth-quarter eruption fuels 49-21 victory

A pair of blocked kicks inspired SBCC's offense in the fourth quarter on Saturday and the Vaqueros blitzed Antelope Valley 49-21 for their record-tying seventh straight football victory.

After trailing 21-20 entering the final 15 minutes at Carder Marauder Stadium in Lancaster, Santa Barbara finished on a 29-0 spurt for one of the highest-scoring quarters in school history. The Vaqueros (7-1, 5-0) remained in a first-place tie with Santa Monica in the American Pacific League and tied the 1975 school record for single-season win streak.

They can tie the all-time streak of 8 by winning next Saturday in a first-place battle at Santa Monica. SBCC is ranked 25th in California and 14th in Southern Cal.

Khaliel Ahmed Shegog blocked a 33-yard field goal try with 5:42 to go in the third quarter and Sage Ritchie blocked a punt on the second-to-last play of the third period. SBCC took over on the AVC 31 and grabbed the lead on three Cedric Cooper runs and a personal foul penalty. Cooper scored on a 12-yard pitch to the left side to put the Vaqueros ahead to stay.

"We were trailing and we really needed a stop," explained Ritchie, a 5-9 sophomore who rushes on the defensive punt and field-goal teams. "The shield man went to the other side and it opened up and I just sprinted through. The offense really picked up and Brandon Edwards got the ball going."

Marvin Millett, who had a breakout game with 137 yards rushing on just seven carries (19.6 average), ran in untouched for the 2-point conversion and a 28-21 lead. After the defense forced a three-and-out, SBCC went 45 yards in six plays, capped by a 14-yard Edwards to Royce Finley connection that boosted the margin to 35-21.

Millett had 59 yards on 7 carries prior to Saturday's contest.

In his first start of the season, Millett scored on TD runs of 58 and 51 yards, both up the middle. He scored the game's first TD on a 58-yard sprint midway through the opening quarter. After a thee-and-out led to a 20-yard punt, the Vaqueros took over on the Marauder 35. Millett ran for 14 yards, caught a pass for 6 more and then Edwards hit Elijah King on a 15-yard skinny post for the TD and a 17-0 lead.

"We had a lot of injuries and the coaches called on me to step up," said Millett, a 5-10 freshman from St. Louis, Missouri. "The line did a good job of opening things up. We have a real stable of running backs. I feel like all the backs we have could be starting somewhere."

Cooper came up four yards shy of 100 (96 yards on 17 carries). Edwards completed 16 of 32 passes for 161 yards and two TDs.

"Marvin is a great kid, he's done what we asked him and he deserved a shot," said head coach Craig Moropoulos. "He does a nice job of cutting back and that's the sign of a good running back.

"That blocked punt really changed the momentum. Those kind of things make a difference."

Moropoulos noted the conditions were tough with temperatures in the upper 50s and winds in the 15-20 mph range.

SBCC led 9-4 in first downs in the opening half and 279-55 in total yards, yet they only led 20-14. The Marauders (2-6, 0-5) scored a pair of touchdowns on defensive returns. Kenny Solivere returned a Brandon Edwards fumble 18 yards for a score before Blake Levin kicked his second field goal from 20 yards to make it 20-7 after a quarter.

On the fifth play of the second quarter, Arturo Ramirez delivered a jolting hit to Edwards and the ball flew up in the air. Linebacker Corey Frisby caught it and ran 14 yards into the end zone to cut the deficit to six at 20-14.

SBCC led 23-11 in first downs and dominated in total yardage, 463-171. The Vaqueros had their second-highest rushing game of the year with 302 yards on 49 attempts for a 6.2 average. The defense recorded six sacks and held the Marauders to zero rushing yards on 30 tries.

"Their offense wasn't very good and our defense shut 'em down," said Moropoulos. "We fumbled the ball early in the second half on a bad handoff by Brandon and that allowed them to get the go-ahead touchdown."

The Marauders took over on the SBCC 26 and eight plays later, Ron Howard scored on a 1-yard plunge for a 21-20 lead. Then the Vaqueros blocked the field goal and punt, opening the floodgates for the offense.

The Vaqueros racked up 22 points in 4:33 on Cooper's 12-yard TD run, the 14-yard pass to Finley and a 51-yard burst by Millett that stretched the lead to 42-21 with 9:56 to play.

James Benedix and Jay Terry led the defense with seven tackles each. Jacob Girgle had six tackles and an interception and Rodriquez Jones made five tackles, including three sacks for minus 19 yards.

"We got down a little bit but never thought about giving up," said Moropoulos. "Khaliel and Sage made those big blocks and then boom, boom, boom, we get a 49-21 win."

The Vaqueros travel to Santa Monica for a first-place showdown on Saturday at 1 p.m.