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# Samohi hopes to stay unbeaten in Ocean League Play Vikings hit the road
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/samohi-hopes-to-stay-unbeaten-in-ocean-league-play-vikings-hit-the-road/
- Published: 2007-10-19T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-24T03:30:35.000Z
- Author: Melody Hanatani
- Tags: Sports, Santa Monica, #archive-import

*Samohi travels to Beverly Hills*

BEVERLY HILLS There may be no place like home but the Santa Monica Vikings will have to get used to life on the road as it finishes the remainder of its football season away from the friendly confines of Corsair Field.

The fact that the rest of the Vikings’ 2007 games will be played on the road doesn’t seem to concern head Coach Zach Cuda or his squad, which will play its first contest away from home tonight against Beverly Hills, a team that shared the Ocean League championship with Culver City last year.

“I think the kids focus better on road games,” Cuda said on Thursday. “There is less distraction — you get on that bus and it’s you and your buddies and that’s it.”

The Vikings have been spoiled thus far during the 2007 season, playing its first six games at home. The team will finish perhaps the toughest stretch of its schedule on the road against Culver City and Inglewood in the coming weeks, concluding the season at Hawthorne High School on Nov. 9.

The team has dropped the last two decisions to the Normans, including a 34- 27 loss last year at home. “They beat us the last two years just running the football on us,” Cuda said of Beverly Hills.

Though Beverly Hills has started the season on a slow note, entering tonight’s game with a 2-3-1 record, the Vikings will need another strong effort from its defense, which shut out Morningside High School 33-0 last week.

The game was highlighted by the performance of linebacker Max Monbouquette who recorded 20 tackles and two sacks against Morningside. Coupled with the return of senior tailback Vince Lawrence, who was sidelined during the previous game with a sprained ankle, the Vikings were able to take control for four quarters, the team’s defense limiting Morningside to 195 total yards on offense.

“We really wanted to come into league with a shut out,” Monbouquette said on Thursday. “The ‘D’ just felt great... we got into their heads a little bit.”

Lawrence scored two touchdowns, including one on a fake punt in the middle of the second quarter. The line of scrimmage was near the 50-yard-line when Cuda made the call.

“He (Lawrence) was real solid,” Cuda said. “He wasn’t quite 100 percent, but he was close and he was obviously real effective.”

Beverly Hills enters tonight’s game following a win against Hawthorne High School last week 49-7.

The Vikings understand that every game at this point — which will all be league contests — will be crucial to its playoff hopes.

“It’s definitely been nice to play at home, but going away, you get a nice change,” Monbouquette said.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on October 19, 2007.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/101907.pdf?ref=smdp.com)