Harbor Sinks Deeper Yet in 20-9 Loss to Compton

Harbor College Coach Chris Ferragamo hit rock bottom Saturday at Compton College.

After watching his Seahawks drop to 1-5 (1-3 in the Western State Conference) with another lethargic showing in a 20-9 loss to Compton, the once-mighty motivator of Banning High School looked too depressed for words.

He did, however, manage a 10-minute soliloquy that questioned everything from his own coaching ability to his team’s listless play.

“I thought I was a good coach, but I guess I’m not,” said Ferragamo, who won eight City Section championships at Banning. “This is really the low point in my life. Maybe the real Ferragamo is coming out now.”

He continued: “We can push people around, but then the players don’t know it. They have no confidence in themselves. I don’t know what’s wrong. We made more mistakes than Compton. The game is upstairs, and we did not use our heads.”

After a recent loss to Bakersfield in which four players were ejected and assistant coach Jim True was suspended for for shoving trainer David Lew, Ferragamo stressed discipline--and admitted later that the Seahawks behaved too well in Valley’s 30-20 win last week.

A fired-up team, Ferragamo said then, would show itself against lowly Compton (1-4, 1-3 in the Conference). He was wrong.

The Seahawks cut a 14-3 Compton lead to 14-9 midway through the third quarter on a 13-play drive capped by a 1-yard dash by Corey Henry. That left more than a quarter to play, but Harbor’s remaining three drives ended with two turnovers on downs and a pass interception.

Compton, meanwhile, padded its lead to 20-9 when sophomore Henry Leblanc walked untouched into the end zone from the Harbor 1 with 8:33 left in the game.

Harbor freshman Grant Beachley started at quarterback in place of injured sophomore Ed Lopez and completed just 10 of 23 passes for 95 yards, with 3 interceptions. Beachley, from San Pedro High, wondered afterward whether he can handle the starter’s role.

“I want to play, but I’m not sure if I have enough experience to run things,” he said.

Despite trailing in total yardage, Compton continually gained a lot from a little. Quarterback Damone Scott completed only 8 of 21 passes for 85 yards but scored the Tartars’ first TD on a 1-yard scamper. Leblanc carried 18 times for a mere 34 yards, but two of his 1-yard runs were for touchdowns.

Harbor placekicker Luis Solario booted a 36-yard field goal that made it 7-3 six seconds into the second quarter.