Football Comes Face to Face With Their First Defeat of the Season
By Jason Burrell and Jeremy Meyer
Corsair Staff Writers

The Corsairs traveled to Woodland Hills on Sept. 28 to take on the Los Angeles Pierce College Brahma’s.

The game started of in the favor of the Corsairs as they marched down the field on their opening drive but failed to score any points due to dropped balls and penalties. The Corsairs had plenty of opportunities to score but never took advantage of them.

The Santa Monica College defense was outstanding but with 4:40 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter there fate was sealed when Brahma’s running back Kevin McCleary ran 42 yards for the only score of the game. SMC ends their 2 game winning strike with a sad loss to Pierce 7-0.

During the first half, the game started off great for SMC they had a great mix of the run and pass. James Jackson was starting to get in a good rhythm as he broke a 20-yard run that would give SMC a first down.

Wide receivers Samuel Knight and Donald Todd made things easy for freshman quarter Mike Haley. However, as the Corsairs got closer to the end zone Haley was let down by dropped balls. After missing a 42-yard field goal the Corsair defense went to work on the Brahma’s offense.

“I am so proud of those guys, They played there butts off” said Defensive Coordinator Rory Barnett. The defensive line dominated Piece’s running game. Branden Allen, Travis Warthen, and Jackson McIntyre shut down Pierce’s offensive attack.

In the second half Pierce came out on fire at the start of the third quarter as Delfino Hernandez dove to catch a 30-yard pass from quarterback Mike Spargo.

Delfino continued to hurt the Corsairs by catching a 12-yard pass along with an exciting 42-yard catch that put the Brahma’s on the goal line. If there was a time for “Sudden Change” this was it.

On the first down Robert Caldwell made the first tackle to stop Pierce. On the second down Travis Warthen shot through again to stop Pierce from scoring. On third down it was defensive lineman Robert Mazarigo’s turn to shut down and completely destroy the running attack of Pierce. And on the fourth down the Brahma’s attempted a field goal but were denied as defensive back Daryl Adams blocked it to kept the game tied at zero.

“ Great goal line stand!” shouted Barnett as the Corsairs came off the field.

In the 4th quarter SMC’s offense started at it’s own 20-yard line but was unable to move the ball on the first and second down.

On the third, down after being chased out of the pocket, Haley’s pass was intercepted by Brahma’s cornerback Victor Thomas.

After the interception the defense was called upon to stop Pierce from scoring on their own 20-yard line. The defense was up for the challenge and stopped Pierce from scoring.

The Corsair offense continued to struggle and the Pierce College defense gained confidence as linebackers Anthony Roberts and Mark Sutton took turns sacking SMC quarterback Mike Haley.

With 4:40 seconds left in the game Pierce, on the second down and 11yards called for a speed option. Kevin McMceary run 42-yards for the only score of the game.

Some would say that if the Corsair team had instant replay, the fans could clearly see that Kevin’s knee was and that the touchdown should have been called back.

Nevertheless Berrett said, “It is our job to stop people, and we didn’t do that.”