GCC football shut out for fourth straight loss

LOS ANGELES -- The Glendale Community College football team forced three turnovers, and sophomore running back Collin Keoshian rushed for 133 yards against last-place Los Angeles Southwest College.

But with the help on defense and the good ground attack the Vaqueros still couldn’t convert their chances, as the Cougars won, 13-0, in a Pacific Division American Conference defensive battle on Saturday night.

Both teams were engaged in a defensive struggle throughout, with no one scoring until Cougars running back Jamal Fleming blasted up the middle for a 44-yard touchdown with 8:42 left in the fourth quarter.

Glendale was not able to respond after the score, giving the ball up on downs before freshman quarterback Ki Bae threw an interception for a touchdown to sophomore defensive back Tevin Carter to end the game.

“We played a great game defensively and offensively we couldn’t move the ball very well,” Glendale Coach John Rome said. “Our quarterback suffered and had a hard time.”

Rome made the decision early in the week to start Bae to maybe shake up his offense.

Bae had a rough go for his first-ever start, completing 11 of 21 passes for 136 yards, with most of the yards coming at the end of the game.

During the first half, the Cougars started to move the ball effectively, catching the Vaqueros defense cheating towards the run.

That set up nicely for Cougar freshman quarterback William Benson to link up with his receivers and twice getting his team in the red zone. But two costly turnovers, a fumble by Benson and a missed snap on a field goal, kept the game scoreless.

The big break in the game for the Vaqueros came in the second quarter when Keoshian ran the ball off tackle for 48 yards, putting the ball at the one-yard line, but the play was called back after a Vaqueros player apparently hit an official for a personal foul penalty.

The Vaqueros offense could never get in rhythm against a defense that, until kickoff, gave up 36.6 points a game. The one bright spot for the Vaqueros on offense was Keoshian who continues to find holes for big yards.

“It was a close game to the very end,” said the Vaqueros star running back, “ But it doesn’t matter how many yards I got, or how many breaks I got. What matters is if we score and we didn’t do that, so we need to keep working.”

For the Cougars, Fleming led the team with 57 yards rushing and one touchdown.

Vaquero sophomore wide receiver Darren Morrow had a game high 56 yards.

After now losing four straight games, the Vaqueros are back on the road to face Los Angeles Valley College on Oct. 27.