Hancock Falls 43-40 on Late Touchdown by Santa Barbara

Shaq Autry rushed for a career-high 197 yards and two touchdowns for the Bulldogs.

Hancock Falls 43-40 on Late Touchdown by Santa Barbara
October 16, 2016

Sophomore running back Shaq Autry rushed for a career-high 197 yards and two touchdowns, but Santa Barbara City College scored the game-winning touchdown with 20 seconds remaining to hand the Allan Hancock College football team a heartbreaking 43-30 loss on a rainy Saturday in both teams' Pacific Conference openers. The Bulldogs saw their two-game winning streak snapped to fall to 2-4 overall and 0-1 in league. Santa Barbara improved to 5-1 overall and 1-0 in conference.

After falling behind 21-18 with about five minutes left in the first half, the Bulldogs went on a 22-0 run over the next 14 minutes that spanned the second and third quarters. Hancock quarterback Matt Albright found a wide open Tobias Watkins for a 12-yard touchdown pass to cap a five-play, 60-yard drive to give Hancock a 26-21 lead with less than a minute to play in the first half.

The Bulldogs added to their lead in the third quarter when Jajuan Lankford found room down the right sideline and stayed in-bounds while avoiding tackles to score on a 25-yard run. The Bulldogs converted the two-point conversion for the second straight drive to build a 34-21 lead with 9:09 to play in the third quarter. Hancock answered on its next drive when Autry broke free down the right sideline and sprinted 54 yards for his second touchdown of the game with 5:59 to play in the third quarter. Hancock's two-point conversion failed, so the Bulldogs took a 40-21 lead.

From that point on, Santa Barbara outscored the Bulldogs 22-0 over the remaining 21 minutes. The Hancock offense was forced to punt on four straight possessions, during which time the Vaqueros scored three touchdowns, including the game winner. Santa Barbara started its final drive on its own 20-yard line with 1:52 to play. Santa Barbara faced fourth and 10 from the Hancock 41-yard line, when quarterback Noah Holle threw into double coverage, and Jonathan Licea came down with it for a 40-yard gain at the Hancock one-yard line with 50 seconds to go. After stopping Cedric Copper for no gain on the first play, Cooper found the endzone on the next run with 20 seconds remaining. Santa Barbara converted the two-point conversion to take a 43-40 lead, its first lead since late in the second quarter. The Bulldogs started their next drive at their own 45-yard line with 17 seconds left, but could not score.

Hancock finished with 491 yards of total offense, while the Vaqueros had 355. The Bulldogs compiled with 277 rushing yards behind 197 yards on 26 carries by Autry. The sophomore also scored on a 19-yard touchdown run for Hancock's first score of the game. Autry rushed for the most yards in a single-game since Peter Berry rushed for 201 yards on 19 carries against El Camino in September 2013. Lankford finished with 70 yards on 18 carries and one score.

The Bulldog defense limited the state's most prolific rushing team to 80 yards.  Emmanuel Nwosu led SBCC with 46 yards on seven carries and one score. Cooper had 37 yards on eight carries, and Demetrius Vinson, who scored a school record five touchdowns in the Vaqueros' last game, was limited to 16 yards on 11 carries.

Albright completed 17 of his 29 passes for 214 yards. He threw two touchdowns and one interception. Nick Kimball and Alex Cecchi had four catches apiece. Kimball had 62 yards receiving, including a 30-yard gain, while Cecchi had 44 yards receiving. Chris Barganier had three catches for 43 yards, including a 34-yard touchdown catch when he boxed out a defender and came down with the Albright pass in the endzone. It marked the sophomore receiver's fourth straight game with a touchdown catch.

Thomas Leggett led the Bulldogs with eight tackles. Osa Omokaro had seven stops, including 1.5 sacks. Easton Coy, a sophomore linebacker, had seven tackles, including two for lost yardage.

Holle threw for 261 yards and two touchdowns after connecting on 22 of his 41 pass attempts. Jason-Matthew Sharsh had eight catches for 78 yards, including two touchdowns.

Despite six touchdowns, the Bulldogs continued to struggle on point-after-attempts. Mario Delgado, a midseason addition at kicker and current Hancock soccer player, missed point-after-attempts on Hancock's first two scoring drives. The Bulldogs went for two on their next four touchdowns, converting two of them.

Hancock will return to action next Saturday, October 22, at undefeated LA Valley. Kick off will be at 6 p.m. LA Valley is off to a 6-0 start after a 64-13 rout at LA Pierce.