NORTH HILLS — What Santa Paula High football players need to learn most can't be found in playbook or the practice field.

"We must be able to stop the big plays and make them on our own," said first-year coach Teohua Sanchez.

The inability to do both at critical times were costly to Santa Paula in a 21-14 road loss to Los Angeles Baptist on Saturday afternoon.

Three Santa Paula (2-2) drives deep in L.A. Baptist (4-1) territory came up empty-handed with two missed field goals and an interception. All three L.A. Baptist scores came on plays of 28 yards or longer.

For Santa Paula, it was the program's fourth straight game decided by seven points or less.

"We could be 4-0," said Sanchez.

"We have the ability to move the ball between the 20s, but once we get to the other team's 20, we struggle. We need to have that killer instinct."

Santa Paula crafted a pair of 80-yard drives in the second quarter as quarterback Max Moreno blended screen passes with end-around running plays, mixed occasionally with off-tackle runs.

Moreno tied the game at 7-7 with a 2-yard run with 8:42 left in the first half. In the final five minutes, Moreno led Santa Paula to the L.A. Baptist 1-yard line, where backup running back Anthony Murrillo scored with 28 seconds remaining to pull the Cardinals into a 14-14 tie.

The two scores helped make up for two missed opportunities in the first quarter.

After being stopped at the L.A. Baptist 16 on its first possession, Santa Paula came away without any points following a missed 34-yard field-goal attempt by Dakota Foster. That series also cost the Cardinals their No. 1 running back when Brian Aguayo sustained an apparent broken bone, said Sanchez.

Santa Paula's Matt Kohr recovered a fumble on L.A. Baptist's first play. But Santa Paula could get no closer than the Knights' 30-yard line as a Moreno pass was intercepted by Daniel Owen.

The Cardinals had a chance to take the lead with 19 seconds left in the third quarter, but Foster's 44-yard field-goal attempt sailed wide.

David Tripoli, who scored L.A. Baptist's second TD with a 40-yard run in the second quarter, came up with the game-winner with 7:22 remaining. Faced with a fourth-and-five from the Santa Paula 28, Owen launched a pass to the end zone, where Tripoli outjumped two defenders for the TD.

Forty-four percent of L.A. Baptist's yards — 167 of 375 — came on five plays. Tripoli rushed 15 times for 113 yards and caught three passes for another 40.

For Santa Paula, Moreno completed 14 of 22 passes for 137 yards and picked up 57 yards rushing on 11 attempts.