Raul Vasquez Corsair

SMC's Donald Harris (34) rushes the ball through the hole for a touchdown as QB Mike Haley (15), background, reacts in celebration on Saturday, Nov. 15, 2003 at Weingart Stadium in East L.A.

• In their victory over East L.A. College, the football team advances to play in Beach Bowl and become Southern Division champions.

With a 63-0 blowout win over East L.A. College , the Santa Monica College football team (7-3, 6-1 in Western State Conference) was crowned southern division champion and earned a right to play in the 2003 U.S. Bank Beach Bowl. This is the Corsairs' first time in the Beach Bowl since 2000.

More good news: Head Coach Robert Taylor was named Coach of the Year.

But perhaps the biggest story of the night was the loss of starting quarterback David Koral in the early stages of the third quarter, due to a slight separation in his right (throwing) shoulder.

"The arm's sore," said Koral after the game. "But hopefully with treatment I'll get though it and feel like I can come out next week for the bowl game."

Koral suffered a similar injury on his non-throwing arm earlier in the season, but came back a game later.

"Dave is tough," Coach Taylor said. "I expect him to play next week."

Koral was hurt on SMC's second possession of the third quarter, following a three-yard run. He threw a 27-yard TD pass on their prior possession to tight end Chris Porter, giving the Corsairs a 31-0 lead, and ran for two touchdowns in the second quarter.

Raul Vasquez Corsair

SMC's Ken Franklin (16) rushes past an East L.A. player (47) on a returned punt on Saturday, Nov. 15, at Weingart Stadium in East L.A. Coming to his aid are fellow teammates Chris Myrick (30) and Orrete Jones (13).

Koral said he "really didn't want to" run the ball, but that he "had to run" because he wasn't getting "much time."

"It wasn't part of our game plan for me to be running and I got hurt because of it," he added. Koral finished with 173 total offensive yards, adding to his 2,375 season total.

SMC wide receiver V.J. Vickers, who had a 25-yard TD catch courtesy of backup quarterback Mike Haley in the third, referred to the team's success as "a gift to receive." But said that even though they "did good. We made a lot of mistakes that we need to work on." Particularly "penalties" and "blocking" mistakes.

Punt returner Ken Franklin also had a great game, coming one tackle shy of scoring on three opportunities and cashing in on one.

"It wasn't working for me on offense," said Franklin . "But I made it up on special teams."

SMC scored its first TD under Koral on a goal line dive by running back Chris Myrick, who also scored in the fourth under Haley.

And the final TD came at the hands of running back Donald Harris on a 30-yard rush. Place Kicker Joel Rosenberg also hit two field goals from 40 and 51 yards.

"The score just got a little bit out of hand," said Taylor . "I expected to win the game, and to win the southern division championship. That's what we've been working for all year, and I'm happy. I may not look like it, but I am."

Part of Taylor 's held back emotions might be due to his understanding that "on the campus at Santa Monica College , football is looked at as a deterrent factor of an educational process. And it's not."

According to Taylor , "the football team has been under a lot of pressure to excel and I've been under a lot of pressure to excel also. So I've excelled on the field by winning a championship and we're excelling in the classroom by making our players go to school and by reminding them that they need to get an education first and football second.

"This win is very meaningful for the program. It's the first time since 1991 that we've won a football championship at Santa Monica College in the conference.

"Also, football championships are real hard to win, and we're proud of this one. I may say this: 'It's not Robert Taylor's championship. It's not my staff's championship.' When the championship banner goes up, it will say Santa Monica College , Division Champions, 2003, Southern Division. And that's all I really care about. And all those folks that look down their nose at this football program are just going to have to join in or stay out. That's it."

The Corsairs will enter the playoffs as the number five seed versus Fullerton College (8-2), ranked fourth, at SMC on Saturday at 1 p.m. in the 2003 U.S. Bank Beach Bowl.