JC FOOTBALL ROUNDUP

Santa Barbara 26, Pierce 23--Lanny O’Connell kicked a 42-yard field goal, his fourth of the game, with 12 seconds remaining to lift the Vaqueros in a WSC Northern Division game at Santa Barbara.

O’Connell opened the scoring with a 47-yard field goal in the first quarter, made one from 42 yards in the third quarter and another from 22 yards that tied the score, 16-16, early in the fourth quarter.

Pierce (1-3, 0-2) drove 66 yards in 15 plays to tie the score, 23-23, with 1:07 to play on a 36-yard touchdown pass from Scott Doherty to Damon Coleman.

Santa Barbara (1-3, 1-1) took a 23-16 lead on Brett Van Pelt’s one-yard run with 8:38 left. Sophomore linebacker Ben McCombs set up the score by recovering a fumble by running back James Augustus at the Pierce 42. Van Pelt scored eight plays later.

Quarterback Russell McCarthy scored his first rushing touchdown on a one-yard run to give Santa Barbara a 10-6 lead in the second quarter, but Jamaal Washington of Pierce connected with Peter Gunny on a 78-yard touchdown pass play 15 seconds later.

Ramiro Esqueda kicked a 41-yard field goal as time expired in the first half, increasing Pierce’s lead to 16-10.

Washington completed 10 of 15 passes for 229 yards with one interception and scored on a five-yard run in the first quarter.

Doherty connected was six of 13 for 80 yards.

Coleman caught seven passes for 106 yards.

Augustus finished with 75 yards in 11 carries and four receptions for 37 yards.

The Vaqueros defeated Pierce for the ninth consecutive time and evened the series, 9-9.