As the sun set over Peabody Stadium this Friday, the Dons reigned victorious once again with a 42-17 victory over the Camarillo Scorpions. The team got off to a strong start as the defense forced a punt on the opening drive, which led to senior wide receiver Mason Morales catching a 25-yard touchdown pass with seven minutes left in the first quarter. The Dons then continued to capitalize on offense as a shovel pass to senior wide receiver and linebacker Kai Mault put another six points on the board. 

             As the second quarter began, the Camarillo offense managed to slip into Dons’ territory, but were forced to punt yet again after a critical tackle for a loss on the Scorpions’ quarterback. However, the Scorpions finally managed to score with seven minutes left in the half as they cashed in on a pass interference call on the Dons’ defense. This set a fire to the Santa Barbara offense who answered with an electric 47-yard run by Bode Fauskee to descend into Camarillo territory. The Dons then reclaimed their 14 point margin on a 21-yard pass to senior wide receiver Carter Debusk. This momentum carried over to the defensive side of the ball as junior middle linebacker and fullback Jacob Hurtado came away with the first interception of the season. Just three plays later, junior quarterback Laird Finkle found Mault for a second time on a twelve yard pitch which brought the score to 28-7 as the clock ticked towards halftime. After a pair of three and outs by both teams, the Scorpions knocked out a 30-yard field goal to close out the half. 

              “I thought the defense played well, I think they could have played better, I think that’s how good we can be…so a nice job on offense and defense, we thought Thiago did a really good job kicking the ball tonight so it’s nice to have Thiago”, Head Coach Nate Mendoza said of the teams performance postgame.

               The Dons came out of halftime refreshed and ready to dominate as the offense put together a textbook drive ending in a 6-yard touchdown run for Fauskee. The Scorpions answered with an extensive 14-play drive which brought the score to 35-17 with 3:16 left in the third. An exhilarating fake punt to start the fourth quarter resulted in senior kicker and punter Thiago Valerio rushing for 31 yards into Scorpions’ territory. The drive ended in yet another score for SB as junior running back Zane Webb punched it in from the 2-yard line. Although there was still seven minutes left, this proved to be the final score of the game as Webb’s run brought the total to 42-17. However, it was not over yet as an interception from senior safety D.J Wilson ensured that the Scorpions would not score again.

                  “It’s a nice home opening win. We had a great crowd (and) our student section was awesome. I don’t think our student section was very strong last year so it was really cool to see tonight…The first week of school I think everybody was excited to be out here tonight so it’s good for our boys to back it up with a win,” Mendoza said of the victory post-game. All in all, the Dons walked off the field victorious and we can only hope that this win sets the tone for the rest of the season.