Parker Scores 4 Touchdowns to Boost Pierce Past Glendale

Winning a few games is one thing. But the Pierce College football team is making it look like a habit.

Pierce’s latest victory came Saturday afternoon as tailback LaShante Parker powered the visiting Brahmas past Glendale, 34-23, in a Western State Conference game.

Pierce has won three games in a row and is 4-1, 3-1 in conference play.

Parker, a 5-foot-10, 184-pound sophomore running back, equaled his season total with four touchdowns as the Brahmas overcame a 17-7 deficit and turned the game into a rout in the second half.

“I think we’re on a real good roll,” said Parker, who gained 164 yards in 18 carries. “We had a little extra effort because they’re Glendale. Since the (Pierce football) program has been back, I don’t think Pierce had beat them.”

Indeed, Pierce, which reinstated football in 1988 after a two-year hiatus because of budget cuts, had not beaten the Vaqueros since 1984.

Against the defending WSC Northern Division champion Vaqueros (0-5, 0-4), Pierce designed a scheme in which it opened holes on the line of scrimmage and let Parker do the rest.

Parker dashed 71 yards for a touchdown on his first carry. Fittingly, he finished with a 12-yard touchdown late in the fourth quarter.

In between, Pierce contained Glendale’s running game. Vaquero tailback Bobby Webster scored two touchdowns and rushed for 74 yards but needed 30 carries.

In a first half that featured plenty of running and little passing, Pierce emerged with a 20-17 edge.

Stunned by Parker’s touchdown less than a minute into the game, Glendale responded with a determined 16-play, 65-yard drive that included two fourth-down plays and culminated with a one-yard run by Webster.

The Vaqueros maintained momentum moments later when linebacker Jason Stanley (two interceptions) picked off a Joe Pica pass and returned it 14 yards to the Brahma 14. Webster scored from four yards to give Glendale a 14-7 lead.

Pierce began its rally from a 17-7 deficit late in the second quarter, recovering an onside kick by Glendale at the Vaquero 48.

“I take total responsibility for that,” Glendale Coach John Cicuto said of the onside kick. “That was not a very good call and it led to a score right away.”

Parker scored on a 16-yard run with 2 minutes 31 seconds left in the half to trim Pierce’s deficit to three points.

After holding Glendale on the ensuing series, the Brahmas took the lead for good with a six-play, 67-yard scoring drive in only 47 seconds. Included was a 30-yard run by Parker and a 30-yard pass play from Pica to Shannon Culver that set up a five-yard touchdown run by fullback Anthony Florence with 19 seconds left.

Glendale made its most costly mistake 10 minutes into the third quarter when Robert Floyd fumbled a punt on a fair catch and Pierce’s Randy West recovered at the Glendale 2. Parker scored from two yards on the next play to make it 27-17.