Dons dominate Tritons

BY COLBY FRAZIER
DAILY SOUND STAFF WRITER

On a blustery night in Peabody Stadium, the Santa Barbara Dons rallied behind four touchdown passes by quarterback back John Uribe and three touchdown receptions by Bryson Lloyd to squash the visiting Pacifica Tritons in a 43-23 rout.
It was a game in which the Dons used an array of offensive weapons that included two touchdowns by Greg Dominguez and another by Tad Slaff, which left Pacifica defenders scratching their heads about who to cover.


But it’s a scene that Dons Head Coach Will Gonzales enjoys watching.
“We’ve got a lot of weapons,” Gonzales said. “If you’re going to try and take something away, we’re going to go with something else.”
The Dons didn’t waste any time digging into the Tritons, putting the first points on the board after Uribe found Lloyd on a short pass just more than three minutes into the first quarter. Kicker Ruben Hernandez missed the extra point attempt, which ended up being the first of three failed attempts.
Pacifica took their only lead of the evening on their next possession after a nine play drive that was capped with a five yard stomp into the end zone by quarterback Vince Moraga, who led in rushing for the Tritons.
The Dons took over with 4:41 remaining in the first half, drove down field on nine plays and found themselves in a fourth down and six situation that was promptly diffused by field goal kicker Vincent Alvarez, who put the Dons back on top 9-7 with 59 seconds remaining in the first quarter.
The Dons looked stellar on offense as well, forcing four turnovers, two of which were turned into touchdowns.
The first Pacifica turnover came at the beginning of the second quarter. The Dons recovered the ball at their own 46-yard line, rattled off six plays and with a first down and 20-yards to go, Uribe handled off to Dominguez, who ran straight up the middle for the touchdown, which gave the Dons a 16-7 lead.
On the second play of Pacifica’s next possession, Moraga threw a rocket up the middle that was picked off by Dons defensive back Mychal Prieto, which set the Dons up with solid field position at the Triton 22-yard line.
After two plays for no gain, Uribe nailed Lloyd for a touchdown, but it was called back after a holding penalty on the Dons.
The Tritons took over on downs and punted it away with 2:56 remaining in the half.
From their own 34-yard line, Uribe gave the ball to Slaff, who rumbled up field for a 51-yard gain, and then the crafty quarterback found Lloyd again for the 10-yard touchdown pass. Uribe went to Lloyd again for the two-point conversion, which was also good giving the Dons a 24-7 lead.
Santa Barbara continued to stack up an offensive wall against the Tritons in the second half, after Uribe found Lloyd for the third and final time on the Dons’ first possession of the half for a 46-yard touchdown reception. Lloyd caught the football at mid field, laid a shoulder into a Triton defender and powered into the end zone. Hernandez missed the extra point, which left the score at 30-7.
Things continued to go downhill for Pacifica on their next possession when the Dons recovered a fumble with 7:36 remaining in the third quarter.
Two plays and one minute later, Dominguez dashed for a 26-yard touchdown run after short pass from Uribe. Hernandez missed this extra point attempt as well, but the Dons were comfortably ahead 36-7.
Pacifica put seven more on the board after Moraga scored his second touchdown of the night n a six yard stomp. Pacifica put two more on the board with a safety on the Dons’ next possession.
The roar from the Dons crowd was subdued slightly after Moraga found Matt Madrid for a 25-yard touchdown pass with 3:23 remaining to play.
But Slaff got the crowd back on their feet after sprinting for a 50 yard touchdown to close out the scoring.
Slaff did however snag an interception on the Tritons’ final possession to end the night.
With the win, the Dons move to 4-1 on the season and will begin Channel League play next week against Buena.