Corsairs flocked by Falcons; Streak continues
The Santa Monica College Corsairs came off a bye week in an attempt to end their four-game losing streak, as they took on the Cerritos Falcons at home on October 14, 2017. Cerritos took an early 3-0 lead in the first quarter on a 33-yard field goal from kicker Humberto Avila.
After impressive showings in the last two games before the bye week, sophomore Paul Davis was given the starting quarterback job. The Corsairs offense had a slow start to the game, but Dario Gentiletti recovered a fumble on special teams and gave his offense the ball at the Cerritos 10-yard line. Davis led the offense to the one-yard line and SMC went for it on fourth and goal but was stopped by the Falcons defense.
Things took a turn for the worse in the second quarter, Davis' pass was intercepted by Devan Burrell of Cerritos, who returned it 55 yards for a touchdown and made it 10-0 Cerritos. On the ensuing drive after the interception, Davis was hit by Omar Garcia of Cerritos and was injured on the play. The injury proved to be serious as he would not suit up for the rest of the game.
To begin the half, John Martinos would take over at quarterback for the Corsairs, the quarterback change did little to nothing. A three-yard rushing touchdown by Quentin Davis of the Falcons made it 17-0 in the third quarter. A five-yard rushing touchdown extended the Falcons lead to 24 in the fourth quarter. The Corsairs would respond on an eight play, 67-yard drive with a 22-yard completion to Jordan Herrera, a defensive penalty, and a 19-yard run by Christoph Hirota to the one-yard line. The drive was capped off by a one-yard rushing touchdown by Martinos to put the Corsairs on the board and making the score 24-7. The Falcons kept piling it on, an eight-yard touchdown pass made it 31-7. The Corsairs were driving deep into enemy territory, but a late interception would put an end to the game. The final score was 31-7 Cerritos.
This now makes it a season-high five straight losses for the Corsairs after winning the season opener. When asked about the team's state of mind after this devastating loss, interim head coach Kelly Ledwith said, "their state of mind was good, we went through so much change in the last three weeks, and the final score didn't show it on the scoreboard, but the effort and hard work they put in really showed for the first three quarters."
Regarding Paul Davis's Injury, Ledwith said, "I'll have to talk to the trainers and see what the doctors say. I'll know by midnight or mid-week and see what the status is for him."
For the Corsairs, Davis finished with four completions on eleven attempts for 66 passing yards and an interception. While second-string quarterback Martinos went six of 21 for 66 yards and an interception, he also added a touchdown on the ground. Christoph Hirota had 43 rushing yards on 12 carries. Ricky Hambright had 20 yards on five carries. Jordan Herrera had two catches for 33 yards, while Eric Bey had two catches for 28 yards. On defense, Chris Wein had another solid game with 14 total tackles. Iuta Mailoto accumulated a sack. Both Dario Gentiletti and Giovanni Corrujedo each had a fumble recovery on special teams.
The Corsairs will need to regroup and find plenty of answers to break out of this losing streak. They will host Ventura College at the Corsair Field on Saturday, October 21, 2017, in Santa Monica, California.