Corsairs Jumped by Cougars at Homecoming
The Corsairs entered their final home game of the season with a seven game losing streak, hosting the Canyons Cougars on Homecoming at the Corsair Field on Saturday,, Nov. 04, 2017. For the eighth consecutive game, it has not gone well for the Corsairs in any fashion. The game started out with Cougars quarterback, Andrew Brito throwing a long 90-yard touchdown pass to Desean Holmes to grab a 7-0 lead. The Cougars would continue to pour it on from there, with Brito's 9-yard touchdown pass to Hunter Schuessiur to make it 14-0.
The Corsairs did not gain enough momentum to drive into enemy territory for the majority of the game. The Cougars scored four more times in the second quarter alone. A two-yard run, a 23-yard field goal, a punt return for a touchdown, and a 44-yard touchdown pass. All made it a 38 point lead at halftime for Canyons.
The Cougars would put the game on ice with a nine-yard touchdown run, and a 20-yard field goal that made the score 48-0. Santa Monica engineered a drive in the final 7:50 of the game, mostly running the ball with Christoph Hirota and quarterback Nick Hutchins.
Hutchins took over the rest of the game as quarterback after starter, Paul Davis, struggled mightily throughout the game and was benched. The highlight of the drive was a 20-yard run by Hirota which drove the Corsairs in the red zone for the first time all game. The drive was capped off by a 16-yard touchdown pass from Hutchins to Giovanni Corrujedo that put the Corsairs on the board with 14 seconds left and avoid getting shut out in their final home game.
The final score was 48-7, Canyons over the Corsairs. When asked about the team's performance throughout the game, Interim Head Coach Kelly Ledwith said, "We didn't come out and execute any of the details in the first half ... in the second half we came out and did a better job with that." Lediwth, who took over as interim coach in place of Bill Laslett after the third game of the season, is still searching for his first win of the season as the team has gone 0-6 under his tenure.
When asked about his future the interim, head coach said, "Those meetings will happen after the season, and they'll talk about what they want to see, and I hope to be here and help these guys move forward to their next schools."
On offense, both quarterbacks Davis and Hutchins combined for a paltry three completions out of 14 attempts, for a total of 27 yards passing and one touchdown pass.
On the ground, Hutchins rushed for 47 yards on 10 carries, while Hirota had 48 yards on 12 attempts. Corrujedo hauled 2 catches for 26 yards and a touchdown.
On defense, Chris Wein and Devin Cox led the team with 11 tackles. Jordan Lawrence and Bryce Harvey recorded a sack each. Richard Harbor III had two pass breakups and a forced fumble, and Shaquan Stridiron had a fumble recovery.
The Corsairs will close out this season on the road against the Moorpark Raiders, who are 2-7, at Moorpark College on Saturday Nov. 11, 2017.