Glendale’s Defense Gets Rocked While Offense Rolls : JC football: Vaqueros roll up 427 yards but give up 540 in shootout loss to Santa Barbara, 40-34.

Glendale College badly needed a victory Saturday to stay in the Western State Conference Northern Division football race.

The Vaquero offense rose to the challenge at Glendale High, rolling up 427 yards and reaching the end zone five times.

But the defense offered little opposition against Santa Barbara City’s run-and-shoot passing attack, and the Vaqueros lost, 40-34.

Santa Barbara quarterback Jarrod DeGeorgia riddled Glendale for 317 yards on 24 of 44 passing and also scrambled for two pivotal first downs.

“I’ve always felt he was the best quarterback in our conference and one of the best in the state,” Glendale Coach John Cicuto said of DeGeorgia, who passed for four touchdowns in the first half as Santa Barbara took a 33-14 lead into halftime.

“I know we’re a better team against the pass than we showed today,” Cicuto said.

Before Saturday, Glendale had the third-best defense against the pass in the 13-team WSC, yielding an average of 164 yards.

When DeGeorgia wasn’t shredding the Glendale defense, he was handing off to Chad Marsalek, who gained 191 yards in 21 carries.

Marsalek’s 34-yard touchdown run on Santa Barbara’s first possession set the tone.

Santa Barbara (4-4 overall, 4-3 in the conference and 2-1 in division play) scored at will, reaching the end zone on each of its first six possessions.

Santa Barbara outgained Glendale, 540-427, and overshadowed a Glendale aerial assault almost as impressive as DeGeorgia’s.

Receiver Tim Hilton, a sophomore transfer from Cal Lutheran, caught 10 passes for 163 yards and four touchdowns.

“Unless our team wins, it means nothing,” said Hilton, whose two scoring receptions in the final seven minutes brought Glendale (4-4, 3-4, 1-2) back from a 40-20 deficit.

Hilton’s three-yard scoring reception from quarterback Tony Delgado was followed by teammate Ely Enriquez’s recovery of an onside kick. Six plays later, Delgado found Hilton again, this time from 36 yards with 4 minutes 23 seconds left.

Santa Barbara covered the next onside kick and, thanks to a key catch by Josiah Williams, ran out the clock.

Glendale’s Delgado completed 22 of 33 passes for 255 yards, while running back Ilan Zilberman added 102 yards in 12 carries.