Corsairs Make the Vaqueros Walk the Plank

The loud siren echoed across the Glendale Community College field and after many moments of heart-pounding action, the Santa Monica College Corsairs found a way to register yet another win on their quest for an undefeated season. The Corsairs did not have another of their offensive explosions, pouring points onto the scoreboard. They had to grind their way to a 32-17 conference victory on the road against the Vaqueros.

"They [Vaqueros] held the ball a lot," said Santa Monica College's offensive coordinator Tim Kaub. "We only had four possessions in the first half and scored on three of them. It forces us to have to come off the bus executing."

SMC star quarterback Troy Williams seemed to be in a zone. Williams completed 20 of 22 throws for 264 yards and two touchdowns. He was also able to add another touchdown on the ground when he dove into the endzone to cap off a 10-yard run to push the Corsairs lead to 32-17 at the end of the third quarter.

"Troy was really good about hitting the underneath stuff as it was there," said Kaub.

The Corsairs were not able to run the ball as effectively as they have in the previous three games. Coming into Saturday's showdown, the Corsairs had averaged 276 rushing yards per game in their first three games. However, Glendale contained the run and held SMC to only 179 yards on the ground.

Local Santa Monica native and Corsairs running back Kwame Duggins rushed for two of the five SMC touchdowns. The Corsairs' leading rusher led the pack of running backs with only 68 yards on the day to push his season total to 341 rushing yards.

The Vaqueros barely totaled more yards than the Corsairs, with 472 yards to SMC's 465.

"Glendale always plays us tough and we have to create our own energy," said SMC's head coach Gifford Lindheim. "We had to play really hard for four quarters."

Santa Monica definitely had to raise their game in the second half. The Vaqueros scored 10 points on their first two drives of the second half to trim the Corsairs' lead to 20-17. Eventually the Corsairs recovered to end the third quarter with a 32-17 lead that would be the final score.

Santa Monica College's defense held the Vaqueros to five straight turnovers on all five of Glendale's final drives in the game. Of the five turnovers, three of them were turnovers on downs, while two of them were interceptions—one by sophomore linebacker Anthony Gutierrez and the other by sophomore defensive back Perman Wilson. The playmaking of the Corsairs defense helped them continue their journey for an undefeated season.

"As a team, everyone has to pay attention to what they are doing, they have to look in the mirror," said Lindheim. "We're four [wins] and 0 [losses], but we are just scratching the surface of where we need to be and I want our team to continue to see how we can get better."

The Corsairs will come back home after two straight weeks on the road to play LA Harbor College on today at 1pm. The Corsairs will be looking to extend their undefeated record to five wins in five games.