The Southwestern and Saddleback football teams combined to put together one of the most fierce, hardest-hitting games of the season to date played at DeVore Stadium last Saturday (Oct. 13). The teams were separated by just four points – 11 to 7 in Saddleback’s favor – at halftime.
The host Jaguars renewed the fight with 13 fourth-quarter points but it wasn’t enough to counter a decisive 14-0 scoring edge by the Gauchos in the third quarter as Saddleback rode off with a 39-20 victory in the teams’ National Southern Conference opener.
Southwestern saw its overall record dip to 4-2 with the loss, 0-1 in conference play.
Saddleback, by virtue of Friday’s 49-10 win over Orange Coast College at Mission Viejo High School, improved to 2-0 in conference play, 4-3 overall.
The Gauchos led Riverside (5-1 overall) and Golden West (3-3 overall), both 1-0 in conference play, in the standings. The Jaguars are tied with Grossmont (0-1 in conference, 0-6 overall) while OCC (1-6 overall) brings up the rear in the standings with a 0-2 conference record.
It appears that Southwestern will be playing catch-up the rest of the season in an effort to become a championship contender. The Jaguars are within one win of becoming bowl eligible for postseason play.
SWC hopes to pick up that necessary fifth win to become bowl eligible with a win over cross-town rival Grossmont on Saturday, Oct. 20. Kick-off is 3 p.m. at West Hills High School.
The Jaguars can wrap up an undefeated slate against San Diego County competition with a win over the Griffins after previously dispatching San Diego Mesa and Palomar to kick off the season.
Jags head coach Ed Carrberry gave credit where it was due in regard to last Saturday’s setback.
“We made a couple of mistakes and they capitalized on them; that’s what good teams do,” Carberry explained. “There are three to five plays that decide every game. No one rings a bell to say that’s one of them. You’ve got to play hard throughout the game.
“It was definitely the type of football game we want to be involved in. That’s the way it’s going to be the rest of the season. Grossmont is going to give us their very best effort.
“It’s fun, very competitive and it’s hard going. You play at a very high level in this conference. You got to come ready to play every time.”
By the ferocity of the hits in the first half, it was apparent that both Southwestern and Saddleback came ready to play in last Saturday’s conference opener.
The Gauchos took a 3-0 lead on a 33-yard field goal by Matthew Freem with 6:56 remaining in the first quarter.
The Jaguars went ahead, 7-3, on a six-yard scoring run by Deandre Daniels and a successful extra-point conversion by Jaime Medina with 31 seconds elapsed in the second quarter.
The hosts had a chance to extend their lead but Medina came up just wide on a 53-yard field goal attempt with 8:19 left in the first half.
Saddleback regained the lead on a 67-yard touchdown pass from Robbie Patterson to Austin Derrico less than a minute later. Sefo Mailangi scored on a two-point conversion rush to make the score 11-7.
Southwestern failed to convert on a fourth-and-two play. The Jags later stopped the Gauchos from padding their lead after recovering a fumble at the eight-yard line. Alexis Quinones was credited with the fumble recovery for SWC.
Saddleback took an 18-7 lead on a one-yard scoring run by Jerome Johnson to cap an eight-play, 65-yard field march to open the second half.
The Jags dodged another bullet when Angelo Trujillo made a leaping interception at the one-yard line to halt another potential Saddleback scoring opportunity.
Southwestern got out of a jam when Paden Hazuga caught a 46-yard pass from Demonte Morris to place the ball at the 47-yard line. But the hosts wound up punting the ball, which wound at the 32-yard line for negative yards.
The Gauchos capitalized on that miscue when Johnson scored from seven yards out to hike the score to 25-7.
Patterson called his own number and scored on a 38-yard run to increase the Saddleback lead to 32-7 with 1:20 gone in the fourth quarter.
Marcus Hernandez-Torrez, who entered the game in relief of Morris, scored on a three-yard run to stop the Gauchos’ run of 29 unanswered points. However, the visitors still led, 32-14, on the scoreboard with 11:32 to play in the contest.
The Jags continued to make the game interesting when Sio Pongia recovered a fumble and returned the ball 20 yards to the Saddleback 13-yard line.
Terrell Johnson scored on a three-yard run with 7:47 remaining in the fourth quarter to narrow the score to 32-20. However, the hosts failed on the two-point conversion and the Gauchos recovered the ensuing onside kick at the SWC 49 to effectively seal the victory.
Saddleback put the game out of reach on a one-yard touchdown run by Jerome Johnson with 2:30 left on the clock and closed out the game with an interception on the SWC 44.
Jerome Johnson led Saddleback with three touchdowns while Patterson, who passed for 275 yards and rushed 12 times for 110 yards, threw for one score and rushed for another. Derrico had five catches for 143 yards.
The Gauchos recorded 22 first downs to 14 for Southwestern and out-gained the Jaguars 503-262 in total yards.
Morris completed 10 of 18 passing attempts for 121 yards while Daniels carried the ball 21 times for 94 yards. DeAngelo Howard caught three passes for 73 yards.
Medina punted six times for a 28.8-yard average, though he did drop two balls inside the 20-yard line. Saddleback’s Harrison Avila punted three times for a 31.3-yard average.
Sean Davie returned three kick-offs for 77 yards while Howard returned two kick-offs for 42 yards to lead SWC.
The Jags surrendered only one sack on defense while recording three sacks against Saddleback, including two by Daniel Kemp and one by Quinones.
SWC recorded nine tackles for a loss, including three by Kemp and two by Quinones.
The Jaguars hung close but were unable to score on big plays, including two plays where they had receivers wide open for touchdowns but were unable to convert.
Grossmont is coming off a 37-10 loss at Riverside. Quarterback Brady Abt completed 12 of 32 passing attempts for 127 yards with one interception. The Griffins were outgained 292-81 in net rushing yards by the Tigers. Riverside piled up 496 total yards compared to 208 for Grossmont.
Jaguars become bowl eligible with 37-21 win over Griffins, pick up fifth win of season
Southwestern College became bowl eligible by picking up its fifth win of the season by a score of 37-21 at the expense of host Grossmont College in a National Southern Conference clash Saturday (Oct. 20) on the blue turf at West Hills High School.
The Jaguars, who never trailed in the contest, broke open a close game at the end of the first quarter with a 21-7 point explosion in the second quarter to lead 28-13 at halftime.
Marcus Hernandez-Torrez and Demonte Morris combined to pass for 247 yards and two touchdowns while the visitors scored on a fumble recovery, punt return and received the benefit of three field goals from kicker Jaime Medina.
Southwestern improved to 1-1 in conference play, 5-2 overall, with the rivalry win while Grossmont dropped to 0-2 in conference play, 0-7 overall.
The Jaguars win this year’s San Diego County derby with wins over San Diego Mesa, Palomar and Grossmont colleges.
Riverside (6-1 overall) and Saddleback (4-3) lead the conference standings with 2-0 records, followed by Southwestern and Golden West at 1-1 and Orange Coast and Grossmont at 0-2.
Southwestern will make a bid to scramble the conference standings when it takes to the road in a key matchup at Riverside this coming Saturday.
DeAngelo Howard opened scoring in last Saturday’s game on an eight-yard pass reception from Morris (11-of-23, 118 passing yards). Medina supplied the extra-point conversion and the Jags led 7-0.
Ethan Albertson kicked field goals of 20 and 41 yards to draw the Griffins within one point on the scoreboard at 7-6.
Sean Davie scored on a 77-yard pass from Hernandez-Torrez to increase the visitor’s lead to 14-6 following another successful Medina PAT conversion.
Grossmont narrowed the score to 14-13 when Mathew Linton caught a 30-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Brady Abt.
However, Southwestern ended the first half of play with two more touchdowns to pull away on the scoreboard.
Nicholas Bailey scored on a 45-yard fumble recovery with 5:29 to play in the second quarter and Howard returned a punt for a touchdown a minute later to cap the SWC scoring rush.
The Jaguars added to their point total on a 23-yard Medina field goal to open scoring in the second half.
The Griffins countered on a one-yard touchdown run by Jarius Burnette to trim their deficit on the scoreboard to 31-20.
However, Medina kicked field goals of 45 and 27 yards to close out scoring in the game.
Southwestern out-gained Grossmont 428-277 in total offensive yards. The Jaguars limited the Griffins to just 62 rushing yards while gaining 181 yards of their own.
The visitors racked up 111 return yards to just 26 for the hosts.
Morris led all SWC rushers in the game with 91 yards on 12 carries. Deandre Daniels gained 55 yards on 17 carries and also caught three passes for 38 yards.
Howard caught nine passes for 110 yards and one touchdown and tacked on 37yards on a kick-off return and 61 yards on two punt returns, scoring once.
Medina turned in one of his most successful outings of the season with 13 kicking points. He made three of four field goal attempts and was perfect on all four extra-point conversion attempts. The Point Loma High School alumnus averaged 48.5 yards on four punts and 60.1 yards on eight kick-offs with five touchbacks.
Abt passed 42 times, completing 16 passes for 215 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Burnette keyed Grossmont with 54 rushing yards on 19 carries.
Defensive leaders in the game for Southwestern included Isaac Wright with 10 tackles, Daelyn Moses-Dunn with two sacks and Devin Washington with one pick. As a team, the Jaguars recorded three sacks, seven tackles for a loss, one fumble recovery and one interception.
The Griffins registered one sack and one fumble recovery.
HIGH SCHOOL SCOREBOARD
Friday, Oct. 19
Metro-Mesa League
Eastlake 28, Olympian 3
Otay Ranch 34, Mater Dei Catholic 0
Metro-South Bay League
Hilltop 20, Mar Vista 7
Sweetwater 31, Chula Vista 0
Metro-Pacific League
Castle Park 37, Southwest 21
Montgomery 54, San Ysidro 6
