The undefeated Southwestern College football team will host likewise unbeaten Victory Valley in the American Conference Mountain Division opener for both teams Saturday, Sept. 27. Kick-off is 6 p.m. at DeVore Stadium.
Southwestern improved to 3-0 by defeating host L.A. Piece College, 41-14, last Saturday in a non-conference match-up.
Victory Valley improved to 3-0 on the season by defeating visiting L.A. Southwest, 41-17, last Saturday. The Rams also own non-conference victories against West L.A. (34-31) and Antelope Valley (19-7).
“This should be a good one,” SWC head coach Ed Carberry said. “Both teams are 3-0 and this has all the makings of a championship game already. In fact, we have to treat all the games from now on like championship games.
“Victor Valley and us are both 3-0 and San Bernardino has been scoring points, so those three teams have to be considered the favorites right now to win the conference championship. The game against Victor Valley should be the biggest test for us so far this season.”
L.A. Pierce broke out to a 7-0 lead before the Jaguars came back to take a 10-7 lead. The hosts then went up 14-10 before the visitors tallied the final 31 points of the contest.
“Like any game, the beginning started out with both teams playing very hard, it was a close game after the first quarter,” SWC defensive coordinator Dionicio Monarrez explained.
“Our defense gave up a touchdown on the first play of the game and that was the only touchdown they scored on our defense the rest of the game. Our defense played great.”
Shakeem Wharton broke off a 61-yard scoring run and Jamie Sutcliffe kicked the point-after-touchdown conversion to give L.A. Pierce a 7-0 lead after a grand total of 14 seconds had elapsed in the game.
Southwestern answered back with a 19-yard field goal by Anthony Herrera to make the score 7-3. The Jaguars then took a 10-7 lead when quarterback Tofi Paopao scored on a 14-yard touchdown run with 30 seconds left in the first quarter.
“We had great field position the whole game,” Carberry said. “We punted the ball deep in their territory and our defense held them and we’d get the ball back each time about the 50-yard line, so we didn’t have far to go on each of our scoring drives. Their punter had a terrible night – he punted for just a 33-yard average.”
The SWC defense set the tone in the game. L.A. Pierce was 0-for-12 on third-down conversions and 0-for-1 on fourth down.
The hosts scored their second touchdown on a 25-yard interception return by Jay’onn Myles early in the second quarter. That was the last time L.A. Pierce would reach the endzone in the game.
Luis Perez connected with Travis Gardner on a 10-yard scoring pass with 8:05 to play in the first half and Herrera tacked on a 33-yard field goal with 2:14 left in the half as the Jaguars went into the intermission with a 20-14 lead.
Charles Westbrook scored three touchdowns in the second half to round out scoring for the visitors. He scored on a one-yard run with 10:42 to play in the third quarter to up the SWC lead to 27-14 and added a five-yard scoring run with 7:41 left in the quarter to hike the Jags’ lead to 34-14.
Westbrook caught a seven-yard touchdown pass from Perez with 12:29 left in the game to make the final 41-14.
Six of the seven Southwestern scoring drives went for 60 yards or less, with one going for 80 yards.
“Our defense played great the whole game,” Monarrez said. “The second half our offense got going. We were able to sustain drives and score points.”
Westbrook carried the ball 34 times for 84 yards while Gardner had nine catches for 100 yards. Malik Kimbrough caught eight passes for 93 yards while adding 31 rushing yards on six carries.
Perez completed 27 of 40 passing attempts for 218 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions while Paopao completed eight of passing attempts for 78 yards with one pick. Paopao also rushed five times for 20 yards.
Also for the visitors, Kevin Mills had six catches for 38 yards while Sergio Bailey had three catches for 27 yards.
The Jaguars rolled up 449 yards in total offense compared to just 194 total yards for L.A. Pierce (1-1). Southwestern amassed 296 net passing yards and 153 net rushing yards; L.A. Piece totaled 94 net passing yards and 100 net rushing yards.
Michael Fuga and Kody Downes each were credited with one-half sack while Aaron Leon made one interception for the victors. Mike Molina led SWC with six tackles, including five solo stops, while Trevor Kemp registered five tackles.
The Jags defense recorded six tackles for 20 yards in losses in the game.
Wharton led the hosts with 74 rushing yards on nine carries while L.A. Piece quarterback Sean Smith completed 10 of 29 passing attempts for 94 yards with one pick.
Tale of the tape
Victor Valley’s statistical leaders include Paul Mroz (526 passing yards, seven touchdowns) and Shaun Williams Jr. (220 rushing yards).
Westbrook leads Southwestern in season scoring with five touchdowns (four rushing, one receiving). Paopao has passed for 445 yards with three touchdown completions against four picks.
“Their quarterback is a good pocket passer and their defense brings everything it has on every play,” Monarrez noted. “They’re a lot like us.”
