No answers for Glendale Community College football in loss to Southwestern
GLENDALE – On an evening when the Glendale Community College football team couldn’t protect its quarterback or get much traction on offense, a proud defense wore down.
The final result was an ugly 49-7 nonconference defeat in the home opener to Chula Vista Southwestern College on Saturday evening at Sartoris Field.
While the final score was certainly an eyesore, other stats were equally gloomy.
Glendale (0-2) finished with 124 yards of total offense generated on 64 plays, while the squad tallied three-and-outs on 10 of 16 drives as it finished with seven first downs (two that came via penalties).
Special teams also struggled as Southwestern sophomore Adrian Petty returned punts of 75 and 55 yards for touchdowns. For good measure, the Vaqueros missed a chip shot 22-yard field goal in the first half.
The avalanche of negative numbers nearly left Glendale coach John Rome speechless.
“You have to throw away these stats because they aren’t any good, I don’t know what else to say,” Rome said. “We were beaten in every phase from an offensive standpoint and we really, really could not protect our quarterback or running backs. Southwestern’s defensive line pushed us back and we had a hard time doing anything.”
On paper, the Glendale defense surrendered 35 points, but three of those scores were set up on short fields.
The unit, though, forced four turnovers and put the only GCC points on the board when sophomore lineman Augie Saucedo returned a fumble 33 yards for a touchdown with 6:35 left in the contest, which brought Glendale within 42-7.
“It was unbelievable to get that touchdown because I’ve never done that before, even going back to high school,” said Saucedo, who recovered a fumble in the second quarter as well. “I’ve had sacks, but never a touchdown. So, a scoop and score, that was one positive thing.”
Glendale also received an interception each from Eddie Reyes and Cameron Spencer to account for the four takeways.
Other that, the night belonged to Southwestern (1-1).
The Jaguars broke open a 14-0 halftime advantage with three touchdowns in the third quarter.
Quarterback Demonte Morris, one of four athletes to line up at signal-caller for Southwestern, connected on a 16-yard touchdown pass to Chris Mack to put the visitors up, 21-0, at 13:15 in the third quarter.
A Glendale three-and-out turned into points when Petty returned his second punt for a score, this from 55 yards out at 11:28 in the third.
Southwestern then iced the game when Joshua Cartwright hit Nick Sexton on a 27-yard touchdown with 5:28 left in the third to give the Jaguars a 35-0 lead.
Max Makarov opened the fourth quarter with a one-yard score for Southwestern, while Cameron Lewis broke a 74-yard run for a touchdown with 5:42 left for the game’s final tally.
Though Southwestern threatened to break the game open in the first half, the Vaqueros forced two turnovers in the second quarter to keep the contest at 14-0 at the half.
Petty opened the game’s scoring with a 75-yard punt return for a touchdown, while Cartwright hit Justin Dottery on a 13-yard touchdown with 8:14 in the first quarter to give Southwestern a 14-0 lead.
Glendale quarterback Michael Bonds, of St. Francis High fame, was under siege all day and was hit over 10 times while in the pocket though Southwestern finished with only two official sacks.
Bonds completed 14 of 38 passes for 101 yards and was the victim of eight drops.
Yet, there was no blame coming from the freshman.
“Hats off first to Southwestern, a great team,” said Bonds, who carried 11 times for seven yards. “They’re a well-coached and disciplined team and that’s why we play them, to get better.
“Our defense played great in the beginning and our offense, we have a lot to work on and I have a lot to work on, too. We’re not going to point fingers at anyone. We’re just going to go back into the film room tomorrow and square it away.”
