SMC maintains edge in size over Vaqueros
SANTA MONICA COLLEGE If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.
If at second you don’t succeed, well, that’s for the Santa Monica College football team to figure out tonight.
Coming off a 28-18 loss at Orange Coast College last week, the Corsairs will take to the field again tonight, looking to erase their disappointing 0-2 start with a victory over Glendale Community College in the Western State Conference opener.
“It’s not a crossroad, but a chance to redeem ourselves,” said Head Coach Robert Taylor.
The Corsairs spent much of their practice time this week addressing some issues that became apparent in the first two losses — a lack of consistency on offense.
The biggest concern came following the game against OCC, when the Corsairs finished with just six rushing yards on 22 carries, stifled by the Pirates defense, which allowed only 194 total yards. Meanwhile, the Corsairs defense, which has been marred by the loss of four players due to season-ending injuries or ineligibility, gave up 337 total yards — 266 of which came on the ground.
SMC’s running game was strong in the 48-27 loss to San Diego Mesa College on Sept. 1, but couldn’t muster the same production last week, Taylor said.
“The first two games were just a lot of us beating ourselves really,” said sophomore quarterback Brandon Howell. “It’s been a lot of mental mistakes. We came into the season thinking pretty highly of ourselves.”
The team returns only 23 players this year from a roster of more than 90 players. Turnover is high at the community college level, where players are only eligible for two years before, hopefully, moving on to a Division 1A or 1AA school.
Regardless, the team remains optimistic that they can still make this a banner year, reminding everyone that in 2003, the year in which Taylor led the team to the Western State Conference title, the team also started with an 0-2 record.
This year’s team, according to Taylor, is much more talented.
SMC has a rich football tradition under Taylor, who has been the head coach since 1994 and a part of the program since 1984, when he signed on as an assistant coach.Taylor has coached several future NFL wide receivers, including Isaac Bruce of the St. Louis Rams, Steve Smith of the Carolina Panthers and Chad Johnson of the Cincinnati Bengals.
Taylor keeps in close contact with his former players, noting that Smith donates 130 pairs of shoes to the football team every year. The coach said this week that he was tempted to call up Johnson and give him a little flak after seeing the endzone-celebrating player don a mock Hall of Fame induction jacket after scoring a touchdown for the Bengals on Monday Night Football.
The Corsairs will face a 1-1 Glendale squad that beat Santa Ana College last week, 27-13, rushing for 135 yards and passing for 102 yards, even while the defense gave up a total of 370 yards.
The Vaqueros (Spanish for “cowboy”) are led by two sophomore quarterbacks — Jacob Proctor and Mike McDonald, who have been neck-and-neck competing for the starting role the past few weeks. The job had been won by Proctor, at least for the first two games, with a starting quarterback for tonight’s game yet to be named as of press time on Friday.
“It’s going to be a battle,” said sophomore linebacker Stephen Peterson. “It’s going to be a war in the trenches.”
Glendale comes off a successful season last year, winning the Western State Bowl at the end of the season. But one of their two losses came at the hands of Santa Monica College, where they lost 17-10.
“I think they’ve got some gifted running backs,” said Glendale Head Coach John Cicuto. “We’re hoping we can control that so they don’t go off on us and make it ugly.”
One of the main differences between the two squads is size, Cicuto stressing that Santa Monica players tend to be much larger, giving its offensive and defensive line a threatening edge. Cicuto attributes that difference to recruiting — Glendale does not recruit out of state while one-third of the Corsair players are non-California residents.
“It’s a concern of ours to see how we do physically with them,” he said.
Howell said the Corsairs are up to the task.
“I know they have a pretty good defensive line and a lot of returning players from last year,” Howell said. “Fortunately enough, we got to come out with the victory last year when we played them and we’re prepared to win this game too.”
Kickoff is at 7 p.m. at Corsair Field.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on September 15, 2007. Read the original PDF.