Southwest Should Get Win Against Unranked Pierce Squad

L.A. Southwest (3-0-1, 2-0-1) should earn another victory on Saturday when unranked L.A. Pierce visits the Cougars for a 1:30 p.m. Western State Conference game.

Southwest is on a roll. The Cougars won their first three football games and almost beat 12th-ranked Bakersfield at Memorial Stadium last week.

With five seconds to play, sophomore Jason Thompson missed a 52-yard field goal so the Cougars, ranked 14th in the state by the JC Athletic Bureau, settled for a 17-17 tie.

“We’re still young and we’re still making mistakes,” said Southwest Coach Henry Washington. “We’re not underestimating anyone, including Pierce.”

The Brahmas (1-3, 0-3) lack depth in most areas. They struggled to beat East L.A. (40-39) in their opener and have since lost three in a row. Last week Pierce fell 47-10 to sixth-ranked Moorpark.

Southwest’s offense should be productive against the Brahmas. Quarterback Craig Manigo has completed 50 of 89 passes for 730 yards and eight touchdowns. The freshman passed for 240 yards and two touchdowns against Bakersfield.

The Cougars’ defense dropped from second in the state to seventh after allowing Bakersfield 312 yards rushing. Their secondary, however, has improved greatly. Last week Southwest had three interceptions, two by Lorenzo Dickson and one by Barry Thomas.

Top-ranked El Camino will take an 11-game winning streak, the nation’s longest, to Chula Vista for Saturday’s 7 p.m. Mission Conference game against Southwestern. The Warriors are 4-0 (3-0 in league) after last week’s impressive victory over Golden West.

El Camino should come away with an easy victory over the Apaches (1-3, 0-3), who haven’t won a game since their opener against Chaffey. Last week Southwestern was shut out 28-0 by Rancho Santiago, marking a three-game losing streak. The Apaches have also fallen to Mt. San Antonio College and Golden West.

They’ll have a difficult time stopping the Warriors offensively. Sophomore quarterback Frank Dolce has completed 63% of his passes for 1,105 yards and 10 touchdowns.

His favorite target is sophomore David Blakes. The Bishop Montgomery graduate has caught 21 passes for 382 yards and five touchdowns.

The Warriors are also tough on defense. Backs Niu Sale and Anthony Anetema will be difficult to stop and so will defensive end Jeff Cummins. Sale has combined for 25 tackles in El Camino’s last two games. Anetema and Cummins each had 10 tackles, an interception and a deflected pass against Fullerton.

If Harbor (1-3, 0-3) doesn’t beat West L.A. (0-4, 0-3) on Saturday, chances of a WSC victory this season look slim for the Seahawks. They’ve been shut out in their last two games, and ranked opponents like Ventura (No. 10) and Moorpark (No. 6) lie ahead.

The Seahawks, losers of three in a row, gained a dismal 98 yards of total offense in last week’s 22-0 loss to L.A. Valley, but the absence of starting quarterback Glenn Baham had a lot to do with that. The freshman from Serra High had strep throat and is questionable for Saturday’s 7:30 p.m. game at Harbor.