The Southwestern College football team enters Saturday’s non-conference game at L.A. Piece College ranked 16th in the state and eighth among all Southern California teams.
The Jaguars moved up from a No. 25 state ranking to kick off the season based on their prolific 2-0 start.
“We’re showing signs of turning it around on offense; our defense has led us so far,” SWC head coach Ed Carberry explained. “The defense is setting the tempo, letting the offense come along.”
Southwestern defeated visiting Santa Monica, 52-27, last Saturday. The hosts’ defense set the tone with two interception returns four touchdowns and a safety.
Marquel Jones (Lincoln) returned one pick 75 yards for a score while Divanuel Flores (Olympian) had a 25-yard interception return for a score.
The Jags rolled up 576 yards in total offense, including 333 rushing yards and 243 passing yards. Charles Westbrook (Coronado) led the winners with 240 rushing yards and scored two touchdowns, including one on a 78-yard run, while quarterbacks Tofi Paopao (Oceanside) and Luis Perez (Otay Ranch) each tossed scoring passes.
Paopao passed for 180 yards but was intercepted twice. Paopao also rushed for one score.
Sergio Bailey (Olympian) had four catches for 92 yards and one touchdown while Travis Gardner (Eastlake) caught a 44-yard scoring strike from Perez.
“Offensively, we have yet to play the game we want to play — we seem to go in spurts,” Carberry noted. “The defense has just been tenacious and opportunistic. We now have four defensive scores in our first two games (three touchdowns and a safety).”
Carberry said fan support in the new stadium has been appreciated. “The first game we looked up a couple of times and said ‘Wow!’— and there was a good group last week,” he noted.
L.A. Pierce is 1-0 after defeating host College of the Desert, 21-17, last week. Saturday’s game kicks off at 7 p.m.
“Their team showed a lot of character by going out there in the desert and playing in that hot weather and coming back with a win,” Carberry said in reference to this week’s opponent.
The SWC coach said the key match-up will be the Jaguars’ veteran offensive line against L.A. Pierce’s freshman-dominated defensive line.
