SANTA MONICA COLLEGE The Vikings haven’t forgotten.
It was exactly one year ago when the Los Alamitos Griffins shut out Santa Monica High School, limiting the then-visiting Vikings to less than 160 total offensive yards.
The score is ingrained in the players’ memory — 35-0 in a game when the Samohi offensive was completely stunted.
To Samohi senior quarterback Ryan Katz, the players just weren’t ready for the game, especially with a few key players, including the running back, sidelined.
“I just told these guys to just remember the score of last year’s game,” Katz said on Thursday. “It was rough last year, but I think a lot of people see we can hang with Los Al and it should be a good one.”
The Vikings will have their hands full tonight when the two teams — entering the game with matching 3-1 records — will meet at Santa Monica College’s Corsair Field.
Los Alamitos is coming off its first loss of the season, dropping a 31-8 decision at home against Lutheran High School last week. Santa Monica on the other hand rebounded from a devastating loss against Venice High School the week before, coming out victorious in a 27-13 contest at home against Jordan High School.
“It was a real emotional game,” Katz said of the Venice game. “The seniors told everyone it’s not going to happen again.”
Offensively, the Griffins run a lot of empty backfields, using four and five receivers most of the time, head coach Zach Cuda added. On defense, the team runs a four-three-cover two scheme, protecting deep against the pass.
It’s a different defensive scheme from what Samohi has seen in the past few weeks, Cuda said.
“Los Alamitos is a very impressive program,” added Cuda. “They’re big, they’re strong, they’re physical.”
A week after losing the potential for an undefeated season, the Vikings lifted their heads up and showed everyone they weren’t ready to give up on the season just yet.
The main difference between the games against Venice and Jordan high schools was the weather. Rain poured down during the Venice game, limiting the passing game, while the sky was clear last week, allowing the team to mix in the passing game a lot more, utilizing the short passing game and spreading the opposing team’s defense out of its comfort zone.
“We were sharper and actually executed better in the second half,” Cuda said. “Defensively, we played outstanding.”
What also might have aided the Vikings is seeing the same defensive scheme two weeks in a row— the 52-cover-three.
As a result, the team was able to throw the ball more for a total of 206 passing yards. Katz finished the night completing 21 of 30 passes.
It was the perfect response after an emotional letdown in which Santa Monica was in the game until the third quarter when Venice scored 33 points.
“Our kids did a good job of putting it behind us and taking what we could take from it,” Cuda said.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on October 5, 2007. Read the original PDF.