Friday Night Lights Returns to Santa Barbara’s Central Coast

The Independent’s High School Football Preview

Friday Night Lights Returns
to Santa Barbara’s
Central Coast

The Independent’s High School Football Preview

By Victor Bryant | August 17, 2023

Bishop Diego opens its season at home on Saturday against Foothill of Santa Ana. | Credit: Ingrid Bostrom

Excitement is at a fever pitch as a long offseason of training will finally pay off under the Friday night lights when the 2023 high school football season begins on Friday, August 18, with week zero games on the docket for the majority of schools around the state. Here’s a roundup of what’s going on in the Santa Barbara area.

Santa Barbara

The Dons are coming off a successful 2022 campaign in which they shared the Channel League title and finished 9-2 overall. A storybook run under JT Stone in his final season as coach came to a humbling end at the hands of eventual CIF-SS Division 4 champion Downey and their superstar quarterback Aidan Chiles (now at Oregon State) with a first-round loss in the CIF-SS Division 4 playoffs. 

With 10 starters returning on offense, including three-year starting quarterback Abel Renteria, Santa Barbara is once again a Channel League title contender. First-year coach Nate Mendoza, who led Dos Pueblos to the CIF Championship game in 2017, brings a renewed urgency to the Santa Barbara program. With a talented and experienced roster on hand, expectations are high.

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