Southwest Outplods Santa Barbara, 18-15

In its homecoming game, L.A. Southwest College turned in a sporadic offensive performance to come away with an 18-15 win over Santa Barbara College.

Quarterback Craig Manigo sealed the victory with a 37-yard touchdown pass to sophomore wide receiver Ansel Littlejohn with 3:48 left in the game.

The win lifts the Cougars to 6-1-1 overall and 5-1-1 in the Western State Conference’s Northern Division. The Vaqueros drop to 4-4 overall and 3-4 in the conference.

Southwest travels to Harbor College next Saturday.

In the first half, when Southwest scored its only points on a 38-yard field goal by Jason Thomson and trailed, 9-3, Manigo completed only four of nine passes for 23 yards. He was also the team’s leading rusher with four carries for 45 yards.

Santa Barbara was equally sluggish on offense in the first half, but its defense took up the slack. The Vaqueros scored a touchdown in the first quarter on a 73-yard interception return by freshman defensive back Paul Perkins. They added two points in the second quarter when linebacker Calvin Young tackled Manigo for a safety.

Manigo came alive in the second half, completing nine of 16 passes for 130 yards and a touchdown. Overall, he completed 13 of 25 for 153 yards.

Manigo finished with 66 yards rushing on six carries, and William Jarrett picked up 51 yards on nine carries. Jarrett’s six-yard touchdown run in the third quarter and a two-point conversion put Southwest ahead, 10-9.

Santa Barbara quarterback Ted Robison completed 16 of 30 passes for 168 yards and one touchdown, a 43-yarder to wide receiver Victor Prince in the fourth quarter that temporarily regained the lead for the Vaqueros, 15-10.

The Southwest defense was led by Chris Mims, who had four of his team’s seven quarterback sacks.