Santa Barbara High Banned as Playoff Site for Football

The Southern Section has banned football playoff games at Santa Barbara High’s Peabody Stadium, citing security concerns stemming from a controversial semifinal playoff game between Santa Barbara and Canyon on Dec. 2.

Canyon lost, 28-27, on a missed extra-point attempt in overtime. The Cowboys twice had celebrated an apparent victory in regulation only to see officials give Santa Barbara a so-called “fifth down” from the Canyon one-yard line each time.

After the game, the stunned Cowboys straggled to the locker room where they engaged in a destructive spree, breaking doors and a drinking fountain. In addition, Canyon Coach Harry Welch admitted that he broke the glass of a trophy case.

Welch, who has apologized for the incident, is adamant that his outburst was prompted not by the defeat but by what he called fan hooliganism that made him fear for his team’s safety.

According to Welch and dozens of letters from Canyon supporters filed with the Southern Section office, Canyon players and coaches were taunted by Santa Barbara fans as they headed for the locker room after the game. In addition, Canyon spectators complained that as they left the stadium through one of two common exits, they were the subject of verbal abuse from Santa Barbara fans.

“That was not a safe facility for athletes nor visiting fans,” Welch said. “The potential for serious physical harm is the greatest I have seen in 24 years of coaching. We weren’t reacting because of the loss. Our players were provoked not by defeat but by the circumstances.”

Southern Section Commissioner Stan Thomas agreed that the stadium was inadequate for the game.

Thomas cited everything from a poor playing field to a shortage of toilets for the crowd, but his decision centered on what he called poorly managed security that failed to control the overflow crowd of 8,000 and the cramped locker-room facilities that threw the teams together afterward.

“We’re very dissatisfied with the security,” he said. “There wasn’t enough of it, and the ones that were there didn’t do a good job.”

Thomas also indicated that he was upset with Santa Barbara officials who had convinced him before the game that their stadium had adequate facilities.

“You only get burned once,” Thomas said. “There will be no more playoff games there. We’re not going through that again.”

The Southern Section action surprised Santa Barbara Principal Rudy Aguilera, who said Friday that he had not heard from Thomas. He defended the facility but declined to respond to specific charges.

“I believe we’re entitled to hear what they based this decision on. We’re at least entitled to due process,” he said.

The decision, Thomas said, followed an avalanche of complaints from Canyon supporters. In addition, Canyon Principal Bill White filed a report that summarized the grievances.

“The complaints ranged from their fans being allowed to mix on the same side of the field with ours, to poor supervision, to drinking by their fans,” White said. “Many of our parents saw fans drinking. And then after the game, their fans stormed the field. They taunted our players and that’s what started the whole thing.

“The common exits and entrances led to taunting of the visiting fans by their fans. We had letters from Canyon parents saying they were spit upon. It was just a generally hostile attitude by their fans.”

The Southern Section decision comes as little surprise to area coaches whose teams have played at Santa Barbara. Coaches claim that Peabody Stadium has gained a reputation as a difficult place to play because of fan rowdyism.

Hart Coach Mike Herrington was an assistant in 1985 when the Indians lost at Santa Barbara in a nonleague game. Afterward, Herrington claims, the Indians made their way to the locker room amid an obscenity-filled verbal assault from Santa Barbara players and fans.

Herrington attended the Canyon-Santa Barbara game and agreed with the Southern Section’s assessment of the security.

“There wasn’t very good control,” he said. “Their fans came over to the visitor’s side and they were very rowdy. Afterward, I saw their fans and players taunting the Canyon players. You felt like anything could happen. It’s not a good idea for a family to go to a game there.”

Former Westlake Coach George Contreras, who also attended the Canyon-Santa Barbara game, coached Rio Mesa in a Channel League game at Peabody Stadium last fall that ended in a fight. Contreras faults his team for the altercation but said that the behavior of the Santa Barbara fans made a bad situation worse.

“We separated the kids and the Santa Barbara players were under control almost immediately,” said Contreras, now an assistant at Rio Mesa. “The problem was kids coming over stands onto the field and fighting.”