The Corsairs Finally Pull One Out of the Treasure Chest

It was bound to happen. Santa Monica improved to 2-4 in conference, 2-7 overall, separating themselves from East L.A. and Southwest, both sitting at 1-5 in conference. It wasn't the prettiest game to watch, but the end result was a success for the Corsairs, who celebrated the 50-year anniversary of the Junior Rose Bowl team.

The Corsairs will improve on last year if they can win their first road game, which is the last game of the year. The Corsairs finished 2-8 last year, and a win would be a one game improvement. A small one, but significant, nonetheless.

The Corsairs' core group of players are mostly freshmen, especially on offense. They have a group of freshmen receivers, running backs and quarterbacks, and all have had significant playing time this season due to injuries and Coach Robert Taylor, who gives everyone a shot to play.

The ceremony was pleasant. Not all of the team made it, but it could have served for inspiration for the victory. Then again, maybe not, as the game score was 7 to 6 for 45-plus minutes. Southwest Billy Malliard had an 80-yard touchdown run for the Cougars with a little over seven minutes in the first.

The touchdown took 1 play 19 seconds, but the extra point was missed by Luis Deleon. Not to be outdone, the Corsairs' Zack Scribner threw to his favorite target Josh Martin for a 15 yard score, and to show why special teams can be so important in close games, kicker Ronny Estrada kicked the winning point through the uprights.

Let's give some love to the Special Teams. Estrada and his boys probably didn't know at the time how big that kick was, but they deserve to be the heroes of the victory.. We see it in pro-football and in division 1 football that the extra point is important to any offense in a tight situation.

No one can forget the classic Orange Bowl moment in 2005: Penn State vs. Florida State in a triple overtime game. Penn State's kicker, Kevin Kelly, had missed two field goals in the game that could have clinched the win for the Nittany Lions. If he had made the field goals, the game wouldn't have lasted four hours. Thank goodness he made the third one to nab the Orange Bowl, because no one knows what the game was doing to the health of Joe Paterno and Bobby Bowden.

Not many turnovers occurred, although a purist of the game would have thoroughly enjoyed the defensive chess match. The Corsairs' Scribner threw no interception, and a touchdown. He threw much less than the last game against East LA, only completing six of 15 passes for 29 yards.

The run game was back on track after a poor performance last week. The team ran for 163 total yards. South West on the other hand had 2 fumbles for lose and one interception. Quarterback Torrey Harkness played an awful game for the Cougars. He threw for a miserable 21 yards with only 13 attempts and five completions. The same story for South West's running game as the Corsairs. The Cougars ran for 157 yards as a team.

A victory for the pride of Santa Monica. It's easy to roll over and be trampled on when you are so low in the standing but the team didn't give up, just like Coach Taylor said. "It doesn't matter where we play; Corsair football will be ready."