Freshman quarterback Brett Nelson (St. Francis) completed 15 of 26 passing attempts for 232 yards and two touchdowns and Aaron Harris (Granite Hills) and Patrick Mitchell (Morse) each scored on touchdown runs to lead the Southwestern College football team to a 31-10 non-conference win against the visiting San Diego Mesa Olympians last Saturday.
SWC coach Ed Carberry termed the victory over Mesa “a key win.”
“It’s great beating your neighbor because it certainly makes recruiting in the off-season easier,” he said. “Our players and coaches saw the problems from game one and went about correcting mistakes for week two. Every year the greatest improvement of the season is from week one to week two and 2011 was no different.”
Nelson connected with receiver Rashad Greene (Daytona Beach, Fla.) on a 43-yard scoring pass in the third quarter and a 37-yard scoring pass to Marquise Deadwiler (Helix) later in the same quarter.
SWC led 17-3 at halftime on a seven-yard run by Mitchell (10 rushes, 33 yards).
Jovan Gonzales (Olympian) opened scoring in the game on a 34-yard field goal and Harris romped 57 yards into the end zone while dragging two defenders to extend the Jaguars’ lead to 10-0.
Harris, however, suffered cramps in both his hamstrings on the play and did not return to the game. Carberry’s team showed it had the necessary depth to hold onto the lead.
Harris, who missed the 2010 season with a shoulder injury, finished the game with eight carries for 70 yards.
The hosts had 10 players carry the ball. Beau Bickel (Reno, Nev.) rushed four times for 25 yards while Nelson had seven carries for 28 yards.
Deadwiler had five catches for 77 yards while Greene caught three passes for 62 yards. Cassy White (San Diego) had four receptions for 42 yards.
Former BVHS kicker Nathan Drum had five punts for 179 yards, including one touchback and one kick inside the 20-yard line. His longest punt of the night went for 48 yards.
Gonzales averaged 57.6 yards on five kickoffs.
Marcus Diaz booted a 36-yard field goal in the second quarter for Mesa (1-1). The Olympians closed out scoring in the game in the fourth quarter on a 42-yard pass from Lester Fontenette (Madison) to Billy Carter.
Southwestern, which did much to erase the memory of its season opening 45-13 loss to visiting Palomar, led 31-3 through three quarters.
The Jags limited the visitors to 58 passing yards and out-gained Mesa 411-173 in total offensive yards.
Trae Bickham (Otay Ranch) led SWC with 13 tackles. Tony Marable (Olympian) and Richard Moore (La Jolla) each had six stops.
Kyle Brown led the Olympians with 15 carries for 64 rushing yards while quarterback Jake Marrion rushed eight times for 44 yards and completed three of 14 passing attempts for 37 yards with one interception.
The Jaguars next play Saturday at Grossmont at 1 p.m. The Griffins are 0-2 following last weekend’s 24-7 loss to El Camino. Mesa defeated Grossmont in the teams’ season opener.
Jaguars 2011 Schedule
September
17: SWC at Grossmont, 1 p.m.
24: Bye
October
1: Mt. San Jacinto at Southwestern, 6 p.m.
8: SWC at San Bernardino Valley, 6 p.m.
15: SWC at College of the Desert, 6 p.m.
22: Orange Coast at SWC, 6 p.m.
29: SWC at Golden West, 1 p.m.
