Last Saturday’s non-conference community college football game between Southwestern College and San Diego Mesa College at Devore Stadium had a lot packed into its nearly three hours and 40 minutes of gridiron action.
Included were eight sacks, five lost fumbles, three interceptions, 576 yards in total offense … and 32 penalties between the teams totaling 349 yards, including 17 infractions for 209 yards by the host Jaguars.
In other words, it was a typical community college season opener.
“We had every known penalty in the rule book,” lamented veteran SWC head coach Ed Carberry following his team’s season opening victory. “We won is about the best thing you can say. It was a bit sketchy at times but we got it done.”
The game was exciting in stretches, filled with lots of back-and-forth action, but the unending parade of penalty flags seemed to put a damper on spectators’ patience. It made for an extremely long evening for the 1,000 fans in attendance sitting on concrete bleachers.
Southwestern cracked up 345 total yards in offense on 61 plays while Mesa tallied 231 total yards on 77 plays. The 138 total offensive plays made for a marathon encounter.
Despite coming out on the losing end, the Olympians actually held the edge in time of possession — 34:22 to 25:38.
But it’s not necessarily how long one possesses the ball but what one does with it that matters most.
A pair of lightning quick strikes helped the Jags out to a 14-0 lead to end the first quarter.
St. Augustine High School alumnus Deandre Daniels broke off a 63-yard scoring run with 4:43 left in the quarter. The scoring drive covered 83 yards in four plays.
The hosts were back in the end zone just 12 seconds later thanks to an interception that positioned Daniels for a one-yard plunge into the scoring column. The one play drive took just four seconds off the clock.
The Jaguars went up 21-0 barely two minutes into the second quarter when freshman quarterback Thomas Fishburne (Steele Canyon) connected with receiver Paden Hazuga (Mar Vista) on a 57-yard touchdown pass. Hazuga just got his fingertips on the end of the ball to bring it in.
The SWC scoring drive took a total of 10 seconds.
Mesa got on the scoreboard with 4:29 left in the first half when Justin Kaplan drilled a 22-yard field goal to make the score 21-3.
The second half was played almost in reverse mode as the visitors capitalized on several miscues by the hosts to dominate the third quarter, in particular.
The Olympians inched closer on the scoreboard with 9:14 remaining in the third quarter when Milan Grice scored on a one-yard carry. Kaplan tacked on the extra-point conversion to trim the SWC lead to 21-10.
It got scary in the waning stages of the quarter when Mesa was knocking on the door again after moving the ball down to the Jaguar five-yard line.
But a fortuitously timed fumble saw the drive end with a recovery by Southwestern on the 10-yard line. The Jags had a comfortable 27-10 lead after Daniels swept around end for a 90-yard touchdown run on the next play.
The game turned completely around in a span of just two plays (the Mesa fumble and Daniels’ TD scamper) totaling 19 seconds.
“Knowing that we had just made two turnovers, I wanted to motivate the team,” Daniels said. “We were ahead, we just needed to keep playing football to pick up the win.”
Neither team managed to score in the fourth quarter, though it wasn’t for a lack of effort. Turnovers keyed the fortunes of both teams, with the hosts snaring a pair of picks to shackle the Olympians.
Daniels turned in a blockbuster showing for Southwestern with 11 carries for 178 yards and three touchdowns.
Hazuga led the Jags with four catches for 75 yards and one score.
Fishburne finished 12-of-23 for 120 yards with one touchdown at quarterback. Demonte Morris was four-of-12 for 40 yards in sharing the position.
Tyler Adderly had one catch for 23 yards while DeAngelo Howard and Terrell Johnson each had three catches for 20 yards.
Jake Dunniway paced Mesa with 149 passing yards while Antwoine Ware lit up the airwaves with six catches for 86 yards.
Quick hits
It was on defense that the Jaguars generated a great deal of success. Angelo Trujillo (Castle Park) had one interception while teammates Daquez Crawford and Will Havrid also recorded picks.
Anthony Alton led SWC with 11 tackles, including three tackles for losses, while teammate Cameron Hanson (Mount Miguel) turned in eight stops, including one sack and 2.5 tackles for losses.
Janken Autele (Otay Ranch) had 1.5 sacks while Nicholas Bailey and Andrew Schasa each were credited with one sack. Sharing sacks were Alexis Quinones, Duran Miller and Deltyn Demerson.
Miller and Logan Darby each recorded fumble recoveries.
Overall, the Jaguars racked up six sacks and 15 tackles for losses in holding Mesa to 66 net rushing yards.
Southwestern (1-0) will hope to get the kinks out of its game when it travels to play at Palomar (1-0) in a non-conference game on Saturday, Sept. 8. Kick-off is 6 p.m.
The Comets defeated host Moorpark, 20-16, in their season opener last weekend.
Following last Saturday’s win, Carberry needs two more victories to become the winningest coach in school history.
Extra points
San Diego State University kicked off its 2018 schedule with last Friday’s 31-10 non-conference loss at 13th-ranked Stanford University. It was be a chance for the youthful Aztecs to make a statement on a national footprint level and the game was close throughout the first half.
The Aztecs took a 7-0 lead on a four-yard scoring run by sophomore running back Juwan Washington in the first quarter and trailed, 9-7, at halftime.
A 30-yard field goal by John Baron trimmed the Stanford lead to 16-10 midway through the third quarter before the Cardinal closed out the game with a pair of unanswered touchdowns.
SDSU rushed for 150 net yards and totaled 263 yards in total offense. Washington gained 158 net yards on 24 carries with one touchdown. He finished the game with 194 all-purpose yards.
Chapman finished 10-of-15 for 113 yards from the signal-calling position but was sacked five times.
J.J. Whiteside led Stanford with 226 receiving yards and three touchdowns.
Castle Park High School alumnus Luq Barcoo made his first career appearance as an Aztec in the Stanford game, finishing with two tackles.
SDSUwill host Sacramento State in their home opener on Saturday, Sept. 8. The non-conference contest, which will feature the annual SkyShow fireworks extravaganza, is scheduled for a 6 p.m. kickoff.
The Sacramento State roster features senior receiver D.J. Lacy, a 2014 Point Loma High School graduate.
Photo gallery by Phillip Brents
