The Southwestern College football team will take the field for the final time this season this Saturday (Nov. 14) when the Jaguars host El Camino College-Compton Center. Kick-off at Devore Stadium is 6 p.m.
Southwestern, eliminated from contention for this year’s American Mountain Conference title, enters the game sporting a 3-6 overall record while El Camino College-Compton Center is 1-8.
The Jaguars are 2-4 in conference play while the Tartars are 1-5.
It appears Southwestern’s run of three consecutive post-season bowl game appearances has finally come to an end this season. Instead, San Bernardino Valley, Victor Valley and College of the Desert will contend for bowl berths. All three teams are tied for the conference lead with 5-1 records. Right behind the trio of front-runners, and still in the running, is Mt. San Jacinto with a 4-2 conference record.
San Bernardino Valley and Victor Valley are both 8-1 overall, while College of the Desert and Mt. San Jacinto are both 5-4.
San Bernardino defeated the visiting Jaguars, 51-17, last Saturday while El Camino-Compton Center is coming off its first win of the season, 24-7, also last Saturday against visiting San Diego Mesa to snap a cumulative 54-game losing streak.
Home cookin’
The Jaguars dropped a pair of narrow home contests to both Mt. San Jacinto (31-29 on Oct. 24) and College of the Desert (27-24 on Oct. 31). Reverse those scores and Southwestern is right up there with the leaders.
The 2015 season has turned out to be one of close calls and missed opportunities for SWC.
“For the last three years (heading into this season), the ball bounced our way every single time and our record was 29-4,” SWC head coach Ed Carberry explained. “This year, every time it bounced, it bounced in a different direction that we wanted it to. We did same things we had done in the past, but we just didn’t get the bounces this year,”
The Jags held a 15-14 lead on Mt. San Jacinto in the third quarter and led College of the Desert by a 24-21 score until the Roadrunners scored the game-winning touchdown early in the fourth quarter.
In the loss to Mt. San Jacinto, quarterbacks Luke Napolitano (14-of-22, 273 passing yards) and Cody Springsguth (two-of-four, four passing yards) each scored rushing touchdowns. Napolitano also threw a scoring pass to Kayo Hannah (three catches, 143 yards).
Andres Burgoin (25 yards) and Omar Hernandez (49 yards) each kicked field goals to further boost the SWC scoring column.
Napolitano scored on a 13-yard run and Burgoin supplied the extra-point conversion to knot the score, 22-22, with 10:32 remaining in the fourth quarter. However, the Mounties scored a safety to go up, 24-22, with 5:43 left and added an eight-yard touchdown run by Donyae Hopkins with 3:22 to play to build a 31-22 lead.
The hosts responded on a 20-yard scoring pass from Napolitano to Kayo Hannah with 2:30 left to trim the score to 31-29. However, the Jags could not mount another drive to potentially win the game.
Shannon Nickson (15 carries, 47 yards) led the Jags in the rushing department.
Kimbrough (14 carries, 77 yards) and Ahmad Huddleston (eight carries, 48 yards) each scored on touchdown runs in the loss to College of the Desert while Lordanje Aguon (eight of 19, 81 passing yards) threw a touchdown pass to Travis Gardner (three catches, 44 yards). Burgoin also kicked a 27-yard field goal.
Nickson (25 carries, 95 yards) led the hosts in the game in the rushing department, though he did not score a touchdown.
Gardner scored on a nine-yard scoring pass with 4:33 to play in the third quarter and Huddleston scored on a three-yard run with 14:31 left in the fourth quarter to put Southwestern ahead, 24-22. But College of the Desert scored what proved to be the game-winning touchdown on a 13-yard catch from quarterback Stephen Johnson II with 13:19 to play.
Southwestern could not score the go-ahead touchdown despite the majority of the fourth quarter remaining.
The Jags racked up 324 yards in total offense against Mt. San Jacinto and 330 yards in total offense against College of the Desert.
However, Southwestern was out-gained in both games. The Jags allowed 428 yards in total offense to Mt. San Jacinto and 372 yards in total offense against College of the Desert.
The game wasn’t as close against San Bernardino Valley last week. The Wolverines racked up 506 yards in total offense to 205 for Southwestern. SBV controlled the ground with 312 rushing yards to 137 for the Jaguars.
The Wolverines raced out to a 34-3 lead before SWC responded with an 11-yard TD run by Kimbrough (eight carries, 12 yards) in the third quarter and a five-yard scoring run by Drake Madarang (10 carries, 47 yards) in the fourth quarter.
Nickson once again led the Jags in rushing with 71 yards on 25 carries but did not reach the end zone. Omar Hernandez handled the bulk of the quarterback duties with four completions on 15 attempts for 64 yards. Burgoin kicked a 33-yard field goal for the visitors’ first points of the game.
Conference rushing leader Deion Walker led SBV with 273 rushing yards and three touchdowns.
SBV’s final score of the night came on a 32-yard fumble return by linebacker Temerick Harper on a botch SWC punt.
The win extended SBV’s home win streak to 13 games dating to 2013.
Tale of the tape
Seven players have thrown passes for Southwestern this season. Joe Hudson leads the bunch with 685 passing yards and five touchdowns in seven game appearances, followed by Napolitano with 498 yards and one TD completion in five game appearances. Springsguth has passed for 27 yards in four games.
The position has been unsettled since the start of the season when former Mission Hills standout Connor Wynn dropped off the training camp roster. Injuries have since taken a heavy toll on the position.
“We’re on our sixth quarterback and we only have four on the roster,” Carberry said.
Hudson broke his collarbone on his non-throwing arm, Springsguth broke an ankle, Napolitano broke a bone in his non-throwing hand while Aguon suffered a concussion.
Carberry said Hernandez, who is one of the team’s kickers but played quarterback at Hilltop High School, will start Saturday’s game against El Camino-Compton Center.
“Omar came in and played his tail off,” the SWC skipper said. “The same for Aguon when he played. They both competed.”
Nickson leads the Jags with 643 rushing yards and has scored four rushing touchdowns this season. Kimbrough leads the team with five rushing touchdowns and ranks second with 294 rushing yards.
Nickson’s numbers are good but there is a big drop-off after that. Hudson has 101 net rushing yards as a quarterback.
Hannah leads the SWC receiving corps with 235 yard and two TDs. John Stewart has 22catches for 212 yards and one score. Gardner has 17 catches for 177 yards and one TD.
Hannah has also been sideline by an injury, according to Carberry. “We’ve had an unusual number of injuries this year,” he said.
Opponents have outscored Southwestern 21-7 in passing touchdowns. That seems to be the Jags’ telling weakness this season offensively.
SWC has scored 18 rushing touchdowns by comparison, just one fewer than its opponents.
Defensive leaders include Dominic Morgan with 28 unassisted tackles, David Blevins with 40 total tackles, Jaquiel Bradford with four sacks, Shareef Shabazz with two fumble recoveries and three players each with two interceptions – Ricky Barfield, Trevor Kemp and Shabazz.
The Tartars were led by freshman tailback Lavell Thompson, freshman quarterback Daniel Prieto and sophomore safety Victor Williams in last week’s win over Mesa. Thompson had 21 catches for 176 yards with two touchdowns. He also rushed for 61 yards.
Prieto tallied 322 passing yards and three touchdowns without an interception while Williams had 17 total tackles, 2.5 tackles for losses, a forced fumble and a pass break-up.
Cornerback Sylvester Winston, who had three pass breakups, sealed the win for El Camino-Compton with his league-leading fifth interception of the season with 56 seconds left. Freshman defensive end Kenneth Forward also had fumble recovery in the end zone.
Williams leads the state in tackles per game (11.8).
Carberry cautioned his team cannot take the visitors lightly in Saturday’s season finale.
“Now that they’ve won a game to break that streak, they probably think they can win another one, but we have to come out from the get-go and give them no hope whatsoever,” the SWC coach explained. “They’re a much improved team. They keep getting better and better. They threw the ball 70 times against Mesa. They beat an improved Mesa team.”
What’s next?
San Bernardino Valley, which last won a conference title in 2010, ends regular season play Saturday with a game at East Los Angeles (1-5 in conference, 2-7 overall) while Mesa (1-5 in conference, 3-6 overall) hosts Victor Valley. Meanwhile, Mt. San Jacinto hosts College of the Desert.
Since none of the leaders faces another in the regular season finale, the stage is set for a potential conference tri-championship. Should one of the co-leaders suffer an upset loss, the stage is also set for a potential co-championship or, if two upsets occur, a single championship team being crowned.
Victor Valley is the defending conference champion.
SBV is riding a four-game winning streak while Victor Valley has won its last three games. College of the Desert had been in the conference lead until dropping a 49-46 match-up last Saturday to visiting Victor Valley.
Mt. San Jacinto defeated visiting East Los Angeles, 21-12, last Saturday.
Rather than focusing on preparing for another post-season bowl game, the SWC coaching staff is now concentrating on recruiting playing talent for next season.
SWC overcomes early deficits to post 28-18 win in season finale
CHULA VISTA, Nov. 14 — A depleted Southwestern College football team rallied from three deficits in Saturday night’s game against the visiting El Camino College-Compton Center Tartars to capture the teams’ American Mountain Division season finale, 28-18. The Jaguars finish the season 4-6 overall while the Tartars dropped to 1-9.
The cold weather, as well as the teams’ combined 4-14 records, kept many fans away from the game. For those who showed up, they witnessed an entertaining contest in which the final outcome was in doubt until the final quarter. The hosts entered the game with a roster depleted by injury and lost several more players to injury during the game.
Neither team will advance to post-season play, and Southwestern’s streak of three consecutive bowl game victories finally comes to an end.
Omar Hernandez completed seven of 23 passing attempts for 155 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions. He opened the season as one of the team’s kickers but was pressed into duty with the loss of all available quarterbacks on the team’s roster due to injuries. Hernandez performed both kicking and quarterback duties while attending Hilltop High School.
Malik Kimbrough caught two scoring passes, including a 31-yard touchdowns pass to put his team ahead, 22-18, in the fourth quarter and a 23-yard TD eight minutes later to ice the SWC victory.
Drake Madarang, another Hilltop alumnus, caught a 35-yard touchdown pass from punter Antony Babida with four seconds left in the first half to put the hosts up 15-12.
Eastlake grad Travis Gardner caught a 25-yard TD pass from Hernandez early in the second quarter to lift the Jags to a 7-6 advantage on the scoreboard.
El Camino-Compton Center entered the game having snapped a cumulative 54-game losing streak the previous week against San Diego Mesa. The Tartars were hungry for another win and held leads of 6-0, 12-7 and 18-15 before Southwestern rallied with a pair of fourth quarter touchdowns.
D’Aeric White opened scoring with 9:34 remaining in the first quarter when he scored on a 55-yard pass play from quarterback Daniel Prieto. The extra-point conversion attempt failed, leaving the visitors with a 6-0 lead.
After Gardner put the hosts ahead, Lavell Thompson scored on a two-yard run to enable the Tartars to regain the lead. White caught a nine-yard scoring pass from Prieto with 2:29 left in the third quarter to put his team ahead by three points.
Prieto finished the game with 257 passing yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions while Thompson rushed for 111 yards on 22 carries and scored one touchdown. White had four catches for 93 yards and two TD receptions.
Kimbrough led SWC with three catches for 69 yards and two TDs while Shannon Nickson rushed for 134 yards on 24 carries, though he did not score in the game. Hernandez rushed 14 times for 44 yards to augment his passing yardage.
Babida punted six times in the game for a 36.7-yard average.
The Southwestern defense did not make an interception or fumble recovery. However, Alex Shellwood did have two pass breakups. Anthony Claiyon led the Jags with eight tackles.
Southwestern finished 3-4 in conference play while El Camino-Compton Center finished 1-6.
There was a three-way tie for the conference championship with San Bernardino Valley (9-1), Victor Valley (9-1) and College of the Desert (6-2) all tying with 6-1 conference marks.
Santa Monica (10-) will host Victor Valley in the Southern California Football Association American Division Championship Bowl on Saturday, Nov. 21, at a time to be determined.
American Mountain Conference Standings
(Final Regular Season)
San Bernardino Valley 6-1, 9-1
Victor Valley 6-1, 9-1
College of the Desert 6-1, 6-4
Mt. San Jacinto 4-3, 5-5
Southwestern 3-4, 4-6
San Diego Mesa 1-6, 3-7
East Los Angeles 1-6, 2-8
El Camino-Compton Center 1-6, 1-9
American Pacific Conference Standings
(Final Regular Season)
Santa Monica 7-0, 10-0
L.A. Valley 6-1, 8-2
Antelope Valley 4-3, 6-4
L.A. Pierce 4-3, 5-5
Santa Barbara 4-3, 5-5
Glendale 2-5, 3-7
West L.A. 1-6, 2-8
L.A. Southwest 0-7, 1-9
