The Southwestern College football team will kick off the 2016 season with a non-divisional game Saturday, Sept. 3, against Palomar College at Escondido High School. It is the first of 10 regular season contests for the Jaguars, who hope to improve on last year’s 4-6 record.
Southwestern tuned up for its season opener by scrimmaging neighborhood rival Grossmont College Aug. 24 at DeVore Stadium. A sizable crowd was on hand to check out the latest edition of the Jags.
According to SWC head coach Ed Carberry, the event went well. “It was a great scrimmage for both teams,” Carberry explained. “Grossmont runs a different type of offense than we do and they came out and pounded us. Our defense got into the flow of things and made adjustments, and we were able to stop them.”
The Jags employed four quarterbacks during the scrimmage: Mike Glass, Joe Joe Hudson, Justin Dottery and Marcus Hernandez.
Hudson, a South County resident, led St. Augustine High School to the 2013 San Diego Section Division I championship as a senior. He made his debut with the Jaguars last season.
Mater Dei Catholic High School alumnus Iman Chatman had a productive evening by scoring three touchdowns for Southwestern.
“I was wondering if we were going to score a lot of points or not,” Carberry said. “You never know. We only had intra-squad workouts to go by, so it was nice to get some live competition from another team.”
Southwestern’s home opener is Sept. 10 against Glendale. Kick-off is 6 p.m.
Saturday’s game has a scheduled 6 p.m. start.
Jaguars rack up 34 points, win season opener over Palomar Comets
Joe Joe Hudson threwtouchdown passes to three different receivers, Demitrious Gibbs returned an intercepted pass 46 yards and Geremiah Satele scored on a two-yard run to lead Southwestern College to a 34-28 non-divisional victory against Palomar College Saturday evening at Escondido High School. The Jaguars kick off the season 1-0.
“Palomar got a couple of late scores to make the score closer than the game,” SWC Ed Carberry said.
Satele opened scoring at the 8:57 mark of the first quarter before Matt Romero connected with Josh Bernard on a 26-yard scoring pass at 11:34 of the second quarter to allow the Comets to tie the score.
Southwestern proceeded to score four unanswered touchdowns to take a commanding 34-7 lead before holding off Palomar College in the final quarter.
Carberry called Hudson the “story of the day.”
Hudson hit Ryan Stokes for 20 yards to put the Jaguars ahead 14-7 at 10:07 of the second quarter. Hudson then hit Ta’jon Mondy on another 20-yard scoring pass with 57 seconds to play in the first half to make the score 20-7 in Southwestern’s favor.
Hudson increased the Jaguar lead to 27-7 at the 9:05 mark of the third quarter when he hit Marquis Williams on a two-yard scoring pass. Gibbs’ interception return at 7:36 of the quarter hiked the SWC lead to 34-7.
The Comets did all the rest of the scoring in the game as Romero threw three additional scoring passes – one each to Robert Ursula (30 yards at 2:31 of the third quarter), LaMont Chaney (76 yards at 6:22 of the fourth quarter) and Jordan Morris (10 yards with 23 seconds left in the game).
Befitting the 62 points scored between the teams, the game was an offensive showcase. Southwestern compiled 450 yards in total offense while Palomar racked up 412 yards in total offense.
The Jaguars collected 316 passing yards compared to 307 for the Comets. Southwestern compiled 136 rushing yards while the Comets rolled up 105 rushing yards.
Hudson completed 35 of 53 passing attempts for 318 yards with three touchdowns and one interception. Romero completed 23 of 44 attempts for 307 yards with four touchdowns and three picks.
Isaiah Strayhorn led the Jags with 50 rushing yards on seven carries. Satele rushed 10 times for 37 yards with one TD while Hudson carried the ball five times for 35 yards.
Williams caught 13 passes for 111 yards and one score while Stokes had eight catches for 75 yards and one score. Mondy had seven catches for 65 yards and one TD. Iman Chatman-Dixon had five catches for 53 yards to add to SWC’s passing totals.
Williams also rushed one time for 18 yards.
Aeden Johnson kicked four of five extra-point conversions and averaged 58.7 yards on six kick-offs to highlight the Jags’ kicking game. Michael Brown punted four times for s 36.3-yard average.
Donell Pleasant averaged 20.5 yards on two kick-off returns. Pleasant also had two picks for 19 yards in returns.
Bernard led Palomar with nine catches for 102 yards while Chaney had four catches for 91 yards. Bernard also rushed 13 times for 55 yards.
Rasheed Farha led Southwestern defensively with 11 tackles, followed by Davelle Fox with nine, Sergio Ayon with eight and Matt Secrest with seven. Messai Small also had one sack for eight yards.
SOUTHWESTERN JAGUARS
September
10: Glendale at Southwestern, 6 p.m.
17: Southwestern at L.A. Pierce, 6 p.m.
24: Pasadena City at Southwestern, 6 p.m.
October
1: Southwestern at Citrus, 6 p.m.
8: Bye
15: Victory Valley at Southwestern College, 6 p.m.
22: Mt. San Jaciinto at Southwestern College, 6 p.m.
29: Southwestern at San Bernardino Valley, 6 p.m.
November
5: Southwestern at College of the Desert, 6 p.m.
12: San Diego Mesa at Southwestern, 6 p.m.
NFL Star watch: Smith, Jefferson, Myers and Fox lead South County on the pro gridiron
The 2016-17 NFL season has kicked off and Bonita Vista Middle School alumnus Alex Smith (Kansas City Chiefs), Eastlake High School graduate Tony Jefferson (Arizona Cardinals), former Mater Dei Catholic High School standout Jason Myers (Jacksonville Jaguars) and Castle Park High School and Southwestern College alum John Fox (Chicago Bears) are back on the gridiron with their respective teams.
Smith, who grew up in Bonita and attended Bonita Vista Middle School, won a San Diego Section championship while attending Helix High School and later earned the No. 1 pick in the 2005 NFL Draft (by the San Francisco 49ers) out of the University of Utah, returns to lead the Chiefs at quarterback. He led San Francisco to the NFC championship game during the 2011-12 season and later appeared in Super Bowl 47 with the Niners.
Jefferson, who attended the University of Oklahoma after leading the Titans to the 2009 San Diego Section Division I title, enters his fourth season with the Cardinals as a defensive back. He recorded career-best numbers in several categories last season as the Cardinals advanced to the NFC championship game after first winning the NFC West Division title.
Myers, who attended Marist College in New York, is entering his second year with the Jaguars. He played four years of football, four years of soccer and three years of baseball at Mater Dei Catholic. A Chula Vista native, Myers earned football honors as the South Bay League Kicker of the Year as a junior and Mesa League Kicker of the Year as a senior. He led Mater Dei Catholic to a state soccer championship as a senior and, in the process, earned honors as the San Diego Section Division IV Player of the Year.
Fox, with 131 career NFL wins under his belt, is pacing the sidelines for the second year as Bears head coach after previously serving as head coach of the Denver Broncos and Carolina Panthers. Fox led the Panthers to a runner-up finish in the 2003 Super Bowl and led the Broncos to a runner-up finish in the 2013 Super Bowl. He is just the sixth coach in NFL history to lead two different teams to the Super Bowl. He has coached in 15 NFL playoff games.
The Star-News will chart their progress throughout the season.
PRESEASON PREVIEW
Smith completed 307 of 470 passing attempts for 3,486 yards and 20 touchdowns against seven interceptions in 16 regular season games last season. He finished the regular season with a 95.4 quarterback rating as the Chiefs reached the divisional round of last season’s AFC playoffs. Smith led the Chiefs to a 30-0 win over the Houston Texans in the wild card round before ending their season with a 27-20 loss to the New England Patriots in the divisional (semifinal) round.
Smith is entering his fourth season in Kansas City after spending eight years with the 49ers. He entered the season with 24,893 career passing yards, 144 touchdowns and a career 84.5 QB rating.
Jefferson, 24, set season high marks last season for sacks (two), pass deflections (five), interceptions (two) and touchdowns (one) as the Cardinals ended their season with a loss to the eventual Super Bowl runner-up Carolina Panthers. He had 78 tackles last season – just one less than the single-season high of 79 during the 2014 season.
The Cardinals have reached the playoffs in each of the past two seasons, including last season’s wild 26-20 overtime win over the Green Bay Packers in the division round.
Jefferson entered the 2016 season having played 50 games with 202 career tackles, three sacks, six pass defelections, two interceptions and one touchdown.
Myers, 25, slipped under everybody’s radar last season after signing as an undrafted free agent with Jacksonville. He converted 32 of 39 extra-point attempts (82.1 percent) and 26 of 30 field goal attempts (86.7 percent) during his rookie season. The field goal conversion rate was the highest for a Jaguars’ first-year player. His longest kick was good from 58 yards. He averaged 62.5 yards on kickoffs with 55 touch backs.
While serving as Marist’s primary place-kicker and punter, Myers set a school record with a 49-yard field goal his junior year with the Red Foxes. He collected 149 kicking points during his four years at Marist, a member of the Pioneer Football League (along with the University of San Diego). Myers earned All-PFL honorable mention honors his final three years at the New York school.
Prior to signing with the Jaguars, Myers spent time on the Arizona Rattlers and San Jose SaberCats of Arena Football League in 2014
Fox recorded a 6-10 record in his debut season with the Bears in 2015-16. The six wins were one more than the Bears notched the previous season under head coach Marc Trestman. Fox finished 46-18 durig his four years in Denver, leading the Broncos to four AFC West Division championships and one AFC conference championship. Fox posted a 78-74 record, playoffs included, during his nine-year stay in Carolina.
Carolina lost to New England in their Super Bowl year appearance under Fox.
The Panthers defeated the Cowboys, Rams and Eagles in the NFC playoffs to reach Super Bowl XXXVIII. The Panthers met the Patriots in the NFL championship game and the game appeared destined to be the first Super Bowl to go into overtime until New England won the game, 32-29, on a field goal with four seconds to play.
