Southwestern College began fielding a football team in 1961; it’s not often the Jaguars have pulled off a championship double by winning both the conference title and a bowl game championship in the same season.
But Southwestern did just that in 2017. The Jags finished 6-0 to top the American Mountain Conference standings, then went on to defeat Allan Hancock College, 35-14, in last month’s American Division Championship Bowl.
SWC finished the season with an overall 9-2 record after a somewhat innocuous 2-2 start.
“The team kept getting better,” Jags head coach Ed Carberry reference to the team’s season-ending seven-game winning streak. “We played our best game in our last game.”
Not surprisingly, Southwestern reaped its share of awards to cap its magical season.
- Carberry earned honors as the American Mountain Conference Coach of the Year.
- Ten players received recognition on the all-conference first team: offensive lineman Josh Patrida, wide receiver Cam Lewis, utilityman Nick Sexton, defensive tackle Anthony Clayton, defensive end Duran Miller, inside linebacker Sergio Ayon, outside linebacker Zyair Velazquez, corner back Jalen Nelson, safety Shaquez Bond and kick/punt returner Adrian Petty.
Six more SWC players earned recognition on the all-conference second team: offensive lineman Robin Luna, wide receiver Chris Mack, running back Isaiah Strayhorn, quarterback Demonte Morris, safety Ricky Barfield and punter Dean Smith.
Strayhorn, an Eastlake High School alumnus, earned honors as the team’s MVP as announced at the team’s awards banquet on Dec. 6. “It was a great year — we fought through adversity and finished strong,” he said.
The Jaguars bestowed five other individual awards at the awards banquet: scholar-athlete (Partida), special teams (Ty’Shaun White), iron man (Clayton), coaches award (Manny Machado) and leadership (Barfield).
The coaches award is named in honor of former SWC head coach Bob Mears, who guided the team for 14 seasons. After some recalculating of records, Mears continues to hold the record for most career victories at the school; Carberrry is two games behind him.
“We had an incredible season with some incredible results,” Southwestern College athletic director Jim Spillers offered in closing remarks at the football team banquet. “The team improved steadily each week to get where they were.”
