Men's Football Fall to Moorpark in Conference Opener
More of the same continues for the Corsair Football Team as they fail to produce much offensively in their Southern California Football Association (SCFA) Conference opener.
The Santa Monica College (SMC) Corsairs football team played against the Moorpark College Raiders at home on Thursday, Oct. 13. After what seemed to be a promising start with a touchdown on the opening drive of the game, the Corsairs offense went silent for the majority of the game and allowed the Raiders to blow open the game and win 49-13.
Quarterback Forrest Brock quickly got the offense ignited in the first quarter with a 60 yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Darren Tenner-Taylor. Kicker William Romero failed to get the extra point, so it was just 6-0 when the Raiders received their first kickoff. A solid kick return from the Raiders put them in prime position to easily score, and they did so less than a minute and a half later, taking a 7-6 lead. Special teams continued strong for the Raiders as they were able to recover an onside kick. Twelve seconds later, the Raiders added another touchdown and extra point, making the score 14-6.
Both teams had several opportunities to score in the first and second quarters, but sacks, fumbles, interceptions and punts didn’t allow much room for anything to happen. The Raiders were able to sneak in a touchdown in the second quarter, ending the first half at 21-6. The third quarter featured more missed opportunities on both sides again, but the Raiders pulled through just enough to get a rushing touchdown and force Brock to fumble and recover for a touchdown, ending the quarter with a score of 35-6.
The fourth quarter started off on a positive note for the Corsairs as they were able to get on the board again with a rushing touchdown from running back Marcus Scribner. The extra point from Romero was good and the score was 35-13. That was all the offense for the Corsairs but the Raiders weren’t done just yet, putting an exclamation point on the game with two more touchdowns in the quarter, ending it at 49-13. The Corsairs are now 1-5 on the season and 0-1 in the SCFA American Pacific League Standings.
Head Coach Kelly Ledwith reflected on the loss, acknowledging missed opportunities to score early on but also knowing it wasn’t all bad as some players stepped up to take over other positions with injuries keeping some players out of the game. He didn’t blame the team for the loss but rather himself for not preparing them enough.
“We didn’t get it done and when it doesn’t happen on a magnitude like that I’ve got to do a better job getting them ready," Ledwith said.
Running back Zaire Martin-Thomas reflected on the loss as well, calling it a “tough game.” He mentioned it was more so little things such as dropped passes and not executing plays that determined the loss for the Corsairs, but a major turning point was a touchdown called back by the referees because wide receiver Jaboree Thornton’s feet didn’t appear to be in the endzone.
"We just got to go on to the next game," Martin-Thomas said. "We can’t dwell on it.”
The Corsairs schedule features only Conference games from now on, with the next one being on Saturday, Oct. 22 at Antelope Valley College at 2 p.m. Their next home game will be on Saturday, Oct. 29 against the Los Angeles Pierce College (LAPC) Brahma Bulls at 1 p.m.
