Southwestern College remained undefeated in American Mountain Conference play following last Saturday’s 17-7 victory at Mt. San Jacinto. The Jaguars improved to 2-0 in conference play, 5-2 overall.
Southwestern and San Diego Mesa are both 2-0 in conference play and are slated to meet in the final regular season game for both teams.
In the meantime, the order of the day is to keep pace in the conference standings.
Southwestern will host San Bernardino Valley (1-1, 4-3) Saturday, Oct. 28, at 6 p.m.
The Jaguars never trailed in last Saturday’s game at Mt. San Jacinto. Ryan Stokes caught a 35-yard touchdown pass from Armani Jones-Sailor for a 7-0 lead. Ralfie Gomez (Olympian) then kicked a 32-yard field goal to boost the visitors to a 10-0 lead.
Sherrion Jones (149 passing yards, minus-35 rushing yards) scored on a one-yard run midway through the first quarter to trim the SWC advantage to 10-7.
But there would be no more scoring until the third quarter when Isaiah Strayhorn scored on a two-yard run. Gomez’s extra-point was good and the Jaguars had a 10-point lead.
Neither team lit up the stat sheet with big numbers. That was probably due to the 12 combined turnovers between the teams – eight by MSJ and four by SWC.
“The offense struggled all afternoon, moving two steps forward and three steps back,” Jaguars head coach Ed Carberry said. “We fumbled four times with MSJ recovering all four. We did score on three short field possession (including from the four-yard line).”
Southwestern recorded 189 yards in total offense while Mt. San Jacinto recorded 187 yards in total offense. The hosts ran 68 plays to 58 plays for the visitors.
The teams were skewed in the statistical department. The Jaguars rushed for 146 net yards while the Eagles rushed for 38 net yards. On the other side of the ball, Mt. San Jacinto passed for 149 yards to just 43 yards for Southwestern.
Jones-Sailor completed seven of 18 passing attempts for 39 yards. Strayhorn rushed for 114 yards on 29 carries to record the bulk of the Jaguars’ offensive yards in the game.
Stokes had two catches for 34 yards to lead SWC receivers.
Carberry noted that freshman offensive lineman Ricky Luna (San Ysidro) earned honors as the team’s offensive player of the game.
The defense once again rested its case with eight takeaways.
Southwestern’s biggest defensive bounty came with five interceptions — three by Shaquez Bond and one each by Jalen Nelson and Zyair Velazquez.
The Jaguars also recorded three fumble recoveries. Cameron Hanson and Duran Miller, both Mt. Miguel High School alums, keyed the Jaguars with eight tackles each. Miller had three sacks and one fumble recovery.
Steven Mason also recorded one sack for the visitors and had two tackles for losses.
Anthony Clayton also had a fumble recovery, as did Gomez.
“For the third week in a row the Jag defense has come up big,” Carberry noted.
American Mountain
Conference Standings
San Diego Mesa 2-0, 6-1
Southwestern 2-0, 5-2
College of the Desert 1-1, 4-3
San Bernardino Valley 1-1, 4-3
Victor Valley 0-2, 4-3
Mt. San Jacinto 0-2, 3-4
