Hancock Loses Home Opener 33-27 to Santa Barbara City College

Bulldog quarterback Curry Parham threw three touchdown passes, but a diving grab by Elijah King for a 12-yard touchdown with 5:21 to play helped Santa Barbara City College rally late to defeat Allan Hancock College 33-27 to spoil the Bulldogs' home opener on Saturday at Righetti High School. 

The Bulldogs dropped to 0-2 on the season, while the Vaqueros evened their record at 1-1 after defeating Hancock for the second straight year. The meeting was the 54th all-time game between the two Santa Barbara County teams. Hancock still leads the all-time series 31-22-1. 

The Bulldogs led 27-23 after Parham, a freshman, connected with Tristen Jeffries over the middle for a 60-yard touchdown with 10:04 to play in the game. However, Santa Barbara responded with a 13 play, 84-yard drive that finished with the touchdown pass to King from Brandon Edwards.  Hancock strung together a drive and entered SBCC territory but turned the ball over on downs when Parham's pass to Jeffries fell incomplete. The Vaqueros padded their lead with a 45-yard field goal from Blake Levin to make it a six-point advantage with less than 30 seconds remaining to clinch the victory.

Hancock held the advantage in total offense, 358 yards to 351, while SBCC led the rushing attack 187 to 172.

After Khaliel Ahmed Shegog intercepted a Parham pass and returned it to the Hancock 19 on the Bulldogs' first drive of the game, Cedric Cooper put the Vaqueros on the board first with a four-yard touchdown run to make it 7-0 SBCC with 11:25 to play in the first quarter.  After SBCC's Levin missed a 47 yard field goal attempt late in the first quarter, the Bulldogs tied the game on an 8-yard strike form Parham to the back corner of the end zone where he found Ryan Mediano to tie the score 7-7 in the closing seconds of the opening quarter. The seven play, 56 yard drive was fueled by runs of 18 and 10 yards from DeSean Dillard. The sophomore running back left the game shortly after with an injury and did not return.

The back and forth game continued when Cooper scored from two yards out to give SBCC a 13-7 lead early in the second quarter after Aaron Pringle blocked the point after kick.

The Bulldogs regained the lead when Parham floated a pass over the SBCC defender into the hands of Breon Briggs for a 27-yard touchdown to give Hancock a 14-13 lead with 8:35 to play in the first half.

After freshman linebacker Eric Wilson intercepted a SBCC pass late in the second quarter, freshman kicker Jose Morales split the uprights on a 36-yard field goal with three seconds to play to give Hancock a 17-13 lead at halftime.

The Vaqueros took the lead again 23-20 on a 20-yard field goal from Levin with 11:51 to go in the game. The Bulldogs responded with a 60-yard strike to Jeffries , but the Hancock lead was short lived. 

Parham, a St. Joseph High School graduate, completed 12 of his 32 passes for 175 yards. He threw for three touchdowns, but was picked off twice.  Jeffries finished with four catches for 107 yards and one touchdown. Briggs caught five passes for 66 yards and a score, while Mediano hauled in three receptions for 10 yards and a touchdown.

Lauina Futi led Hancock's ground attack with 66 yards on 12 carries, while Jaylin Amerson ran for 60 more on 11 yards. Dillard finished with six carries and 35 yards.

Defensively, Jonathon General led the Bulldogs with nine tackles, while sophomore linebacker Willie Iribarren finished with eight tackles, including one sack and 2.5 tackles for loss and one pass breakup. Logan Sprouse, an Atascadero High School graduate, finished with seven tackles, to go with an interception.

Edwards finished with 164 yards passing with 21 completions on 36 attempts for Santa Barbara. Cheroke Cunningham led the Vaqueros with 83 yards on the ground on 17 carries. Cooper added 48 yards on 15 carries and two touchdowns. King caught 14 passes for 137 yards, including the go-ahead touchdown to lead the SBCC receiving corps.

SBCC sustained multiple scoring drives by converting 10 of its 20 third down conversion plays. The Vaqueros were also successful on both of their attempts on fourth down conversions. Hancock was 6 for 14 on third down plays and did not covert its two attempts on fourth down. 

Hancock will look to bounce back next Saturday when the Bulldogs travel to Rancho Cucamonga to take on Chaffey College. Kick off is set for 4 p.m.