Glendale college football on wrong end of nailbiting season finale

GLENDALE — A see-saw affair in a well-played, exciting regular season finale came down to which team would avoid the game-clinching mistake and put itself in position to come out victorious.

For a Glendale Community College football team that consists of mostly freshmen, characterizations and tendencies of a young team that have been a major catalyst in a disappointing season carried into Saturday afternoon’s game with Santa Barbara City College.

Glendale squandered a pair of double-digit leads and ultimately succumbed to crucial penalties, including one late in the game which prevented its offense from taking the field with a one-point deficit. Santa Barbara, also nicknamed the Vaqueros, prevailed in the thrilling contest that saw five lead changes and 878 combined yards of offense.

The 40-39 defeat at Sartoris Field was Glendale’s first loss to Santa Barbara since 2012 and one that leaves GCC in sixth place in the final American Pacific Conference standings with a 2-5 conference mark (3-7 overall). Neither team is headed to the postseason, but recent years have pitted the teams in heated games with high implications, leaving the motivation level unhindered going into their latest meeting.

“Team loss,” said Glendale Coach John Rome, who guided the team to the Patriotic Bowl last season. “We don’t give up a big kickoff and it’s a different ballgame. We don’t miss extra points and it’s a different ballgame. We don’t commit two crucial personal fouls and it’s a different ballgame. I told the guys that I don’t think a team has beaten us this year, we’ve beaten ourselves.”

Glendale, which missed a pair of extra points and a two-conversion attempt, held a 20-0 lead in the second quarter, saw Santa Barbara rally ahead and then vaulted back in front by as large a margin as 39-28 early in the fourth quarter. But GCC relinquished two unanswered touchdowns and after forcing a punt in the waning minutes, Glendale roughed the punter and had its final chance expunged.

David Arriaga and Mark Powell each took snaps for Glendale at quarterback, with Arriaga completing 12 of 20 passes for 133 yards and one touchdown. Powell completed 10 of 19 attempts for 113 yards. Arriaga also added a rushing touchdown.

“We thought their secondary was a weakness, thought we had an advantage and decided to go after it,” Rome said. “We’ve stuck with the run against teams we felt were stronger against the pass.”

The rushing attack was still effective, with Josh Martinez (81 yards on eight carries, one touchdown) and Travis Custis (75 yards in six attempts, two touchdowns) combining for 156 yards and three touchdowns on the ground.

Martinez, a Bellarmine-Jefferson High product, got things started with a 72-yard scoring dash with 2:16 remaining in the first quarter — his longest of the season. Both teams were feeling the opposing defense in the early going, as the first four drives ended with a punt.

On the ensuing kickoff, Gerardo Frasco forced a fumble on the return and Andrew Hayes recovered to give Glendale the ball on Santa Barbara’s 26-yard line. The possession started with two negative running plays, but was quickly righted with a 29-yard pass from Powell to Martinez, eventually setting up a three-yard rushing touchdown by Robert Jones to give Glendale a 14-0 advantage.

Glendale again cashed in on a Santa Barbara turnover, one of three in the game, to increase its lead to 20-0 on an Arriaga touchdown run with just over 10 minutes remaining in the second quarter.

Santa Barbara turned it around, scoring 21 unanswered, including a quick strike stemming from an 82-yard kickoff return to begin a thrilling second half.

With the short field thanks to Elijah Cunnningham’s return, Alexander Cuevas found Ronald Smith-Carter to give Santa Barbara its first lead of the game at 21-20. The two connected on three touchdowns on the day. Cuevas led a potent passing game as he finished the game 26 of 41 for 266 yards and four touchdowns.

Glendale quickly answered with a 66-yard drive that took just 1:16 off the clock, capped off by a Custis 46-yard touchdown.

After Santa Barbara scored to retake the lead, Custis again found the end zone, this time a 20-yard run in the latter stages of the third quarter to give Glendale a 33-28 cushion.

On its next possession, Glendale went through the air, mostly, on a 73-yard touchdown drive that gave Glendale its second double-digit lead. Arriaga found Andrew Benn for 17 yards, Darius Jones for six, Elonzo Griffen for seven and Robert Jones for 31, before hooking up with Nico Cantos for a 10-yard touchdown.

Glendale went for the two-point conversion but failed, settling for an 11-point, 39-28 lead with 13:27 left to play in the game.

Glendale’s offense struggled thereafter and allowed Cuevas and Santa Barbara to make another comeback with two touchdowns in a 3:25 span. A touchdown pass from Cuevas to Carter cut the deficit down to five at 39-34. Later in the quarter, Cuevas took it himself from one-yard out for the game winner.

Glendale’s defense forced a punt to give its offense the ball with just over two minutes remaining, but a roughing the kicker 15-yard penalty resulted in a Santa Barbara first down and preceded a couple kneels to seal the win.

“Going for the win,” said Rome of the play. “Cut the field in half. It wasn’t a smart play.”

Santa Barbara avenged a 47-14 loss last season and finished the season at .500 with a 5-5 record.

“The Vaqs have more points than the Vaqs,” Santa Barbara Coach Craig Moropoulos said, jokingly. “It shows the team’s character and their ‘never say die’ attitude. It goes a long way for the program.”

Moropoulos also said that Rome had this game pegged as a potential championship game prior to the season but both teams will now go into the offseason.

“We had 43 freshmen and 19 started,” Rome said when asked about the season overall. “I’m encouraged and looking forward to their continued development. An offseason will help them become more seasoned and hopefully a better outcome.”