Southwestern College’s football team entered its bye week with a 4-1 record and quite a bit of momentum heading into its National-Southern Conference opener Oct. 13 against Saddleback at DeVore Stadium.
The Jaguars kicked off the season with a 3-0 record before bowing to two-time defending state champion Fullerton, 19-14, on Sept. 21 at home. The narrow setback to the Hornets, who finished atop last year’s national junior college rankings, had to be an emotional boost.
SWC picked up right where it left off before engaging Fullerton by defeating host East Los Angeles College, 38-17, last Saturday in its final non-conference game of the season.
The Jaguars built a 17-0 halftime lead and advanced that edge to 31-14 by the end of the third quarter.
The visitors compiled a 194-151 edge in offensive yards. The SWC defense again provided a strong showing by limited ELAC (2-3) to just 27 net rushing yards.
Demonte Morris completed 16 of 25 passing attempts for 124 yards and one touchdown while also rushing for a two-yard score. Deandre Daniels rushed six times for nine yards — well under his season average — and scored one touchdown on a six-yard run.
Jesse Leasau caught a 14-yard scoring pass while Jaime Medina booted a 38-yard field goal and was successful on both extra-point attempts. Mark Alejandre was three-for-three on PAT attempts for the visitors, who scored five touchdowns in the contest.
DeAngelo Howard amassed 113 yards on kick returns, including a 92-yard return for a touchdown. Noah Berry scored on a 24-yard punt return.
The SWC defense was very active with seven sacks and 14 tackles for a loss. Cameron Hanson topped the Jags with seven tackles, including four stops for a loss, while Nicholas Bailey registered three sacks and three tackles for a loss.
Jadarius Horton had one interception. Each team had one fumble recovery.
Extra points
Southwestern and Riverside both sport 4-1 records among National-Southern Conference teams through the non-league portion of their schedules. Golden West and Saddleback are both 2-3 while Orange Coast is 1-4 and Grossmont is 0-5.
Riverside has outscored its opponents 240-97 in five games while the Jaguars have a 161-59 point differential during the same span.
Go Ducks
Former Mater Dei Catholic standout C.J. Verdell appears to have taken over the role as the University of Oregon’s starting running back five games into the 2018 season.
Verdell has 68 carries for 420 yards and two touchdowns with three 100-yard games this season. He rushed nine times for 106 yards while making three catches for 18 yards in last Saturday’s 42-24 win at Cal-Berkeley.
NFL Star Watch
Eastlake High School alumnus Tony Jefferson made a fumble recovery to help jump-start the Baltimore Ravens’ 26-14 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers on NBC-TV’s prime time broadcast of NFL football this past Sunday.
Jefferson, playing in his sixth year in the NFL and second with the Ravens, finished the game with five tackles and one assist.
The Ravens improved to 3-1 with the win while the Steelers dropped to 1-2-1.
Southwestern College women’s soccer team remains undefeated in conference play
The Southwestern College women’s soccer team defeated visiting San Diego Miramar College, 4-0, on Tuesday to improve its season record to 7-4-1, 4-0 in Pacific Coast Athletic Conference play.
Daisy Gonzalez led the Jaguars with three goals in the game while teammate Briana Sanchez scored one goal. SWC goalkeeper Sharon Montoya made two saves to record the shutout victory.
The first half ended scoreless between the teams before Gonzalez opened the second half with a pair of goals.
