Corsairs Defeat Compton College 56-16
The Santa Monica College Corsairs came out scoring early in their football game against the Coyotes from Compton College on Saturday, Sept. 5. Before the game, SMC head coach Kelly Ledwith mentioned wide receiver Amir Smith as someone to look out for. “He had a good game last week but nobody really saw it but coaches,” Kelly said. “I expect to see him get the ball today and have some flash plays.”
In their first possession, the Corsairs were able to get down the field and starting quarterback Pierce Clarkson found Smith in the center of the field. Smith ran 20 yards into the end zone to put the Corsairs on the board. In a post-game interview, Smith said the first touchdown felt amazing. “I didn't think I was gonna get the ball, but I got the ball so, shoot, I’m happy,” he said.
After kicker Jack Malloy completed the extra point, the Corsairs jumped out with an early 7-0 lead.
In Compton's first possession of the game, SMC forced a fourth down punt which gave possession back to the Corsairs on the 43-yard line. From there, Clarkson switched back and forth between feeding the ball to running back Dylan Franklin and throwing it to wide receiver Braydon Sanford. In the span of one possession, Clarkson looked to connect with Sanford on his route twice, one of which resulted in a first down. In the same possession, Franklin got the ball three times which contributed to another Corsair first down.
Franklin ended the game with 69 rushing yards and two touchdowns. The 6’1 running back is fast and knows how to get past defenders. "It's kind of natural, but I had to work on my speed over the off season. I ran track, I tried to get my speed up, you know. To get to the next level, D1, you got to be fast,” he said in regard to his speed.
After a few runs and completed passes, including an offsides penalty by the Coyotes defensive lineman/linebacker, Christian Kingsbury, the Corsairs used the first down to their advantage. Clarkson found Smith near the sideline and Smith faked out three Compton defenders for an 8-yard run into the end zone. This would be Smith’s and the Corsairs’ second touchdown of the game.
With 5 minutes left in the first quarter, the Coyotes weren’t able to gain yards against the Corsairs’ defense. By the end of the game, the Coyotes had an average of -0.4 yards gained per rush. Linebacker D’Anthoni Coleman made multiple tackles throughout the game, and didn’t give the Coyotes offense the chance to gain yardage. In a postgame interview, Coleman noted his mindset on defense is “see the ball, get the ball. I don't want them to score out there, which they did today. That's because I wasn't out there,” he said. Coleman has been playing football since he was 8 years old, and led the team in tackles with three solo tackles and seven total.
At the end of the first quarter, Franklin got the ball inside the one yard line, and 8 seconds into the second quarter, was able to finish it with a run down the middle, giving SMC their fourth touchdown of the game.
“[My] favorite part of defense is probably like the big hits, the celebration, and just knowing your teammates are just happy to see you win,” Coleman said. The Corsairs celebrated their teammates' accomplishments, and controlled the rest of the second quarter, putting SMC up 49-0 going into halftime.
Compton scored their first touchdown in the third quarter. On the first try for the 2-point conversion, the Corsairs had a minor slip up that resulted in a penalty which allowed the Coyotes a second chance for the conversion, putting the score at 49-8 going into the final quarter.
Late in the fourth quarter, the Coyotes snagged one more touchdown with a two-point conversion, bringing the score to 49-16. By this time, more personnel were entering the game. With 1 minute and 55 seconds left, the bench erupted with energy after freshman wide receiver Isaac Andrews caught the ball at the 30-yard line and ran into the end zone.
Following Malloy’s final completed extra point, going 8-for-8, the Corsairs were up by 50 points. “[I] kind of outgrew the nerves in high school, I’d say,” Malloy said when talking about what goes through his mind before kicking for an extra point.
When the game was down to the final 56 seconds, SMC recovered one last fumble from the Coyotes which allowed the Corsairs to let the clock run down. The Corsairs won with a final score of 56-16. SMC will next play at Victor Valley College on Sept. 12, at 5 p.m.