Offensive Line Issues Glaring As SMC Loses to El Camino 55-7

Santa Monica College loses to El Camino 55-7 to conclude their non-conference games as their offense fails due to the inability to protect their Quarterback.

The Santa Monica College (SMC) Corsairs lost to the El Camino Warriors 55-7 on Saturday, Oct. 9, a rescheduled match from the first week of this season to conclude their non-league stretch of the season. The Corsairs' offense was unable to gain yards and score points, or protect their Quarterback well enough to get the offense going. The Corsairs defense was unable to contain the Warriors speed on offense resulting in missed tackles, and issues in the secondary giving up big plays that led to touchdowns.

The most notable issue on offense for SMC was the lack of protection for Quarterback Forrest Brock, where he found himself sacked five times in the first half. El Camino defensive line was able to constantly get pressure on Brock, and was the catalyst in not allowing the Corsairs offense to get anything going for much of the game. The Warriors were able to take advantage of the lack of depth SMC is dealing with on their offensive line, which includes Ameer Dalbik who is newly acquainted at playing Left Tackle making a switch from playing Tight End.

Head Coach Kelly Ledwith had some praise for El Camino defensive line saying, “It’s the best part of their team, not that there’s a weak part of their team, but I thought watching film coming into it their d-line was their strength.”

[Offensive Line Coach] talked about the situation on the offensive line saying, “A week before our first game he (Dalbik) helped us out and moved over to Left Tackle. We didn’t have enough lineman to play left tackle, so he’s still learning the mechanics of playing the position and we’re trying to help him with his transition.”

The reasoning for this game being rescheduled from Sept. 3 was SMC didn’t have enough players to compete due to injuries, and one of those injured players was Center Gabriyel Manley, who missed two games at the beginning of the season because of a high ankle sprain.

[Offensive Line Coach] said, “We didn’t have Gabriyel our Center for the first two games he had a high ankle sprain, and we’ve really ended up having about three healthy offensive lineman and the reason why this first game was canceled and rescheduled. So, we’re just literally getting everybody together for the first time,”.

The Corsairs will have to move on quickly as the conference opener approaches against Moorpark College as they try to get back on the right track. Coach Ledwith is pleased with how his team prepares saying, “Our guys have been prepping really well, they show up they get good work in during the week, what we need to see now is the execution come out on game day.”

As for the offensive line and their struggles as they get ready for the conference opener, “it goes back to fundamentals, technique and form,” as [Offensive line coach]would like to the group work on.