COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Santa Monica 21, Southwest 14--L.A. Southwest entered its homecoming game against Santa Monica with hopes of a Western State Conference Southern Division title, but those hopes were put on hold after several Cougar miscues helped Santa Monica to the victory.

Southwest (6-2-1 overall, 2-2-1 in conference play) must hope that both L.A. Pierce and Santa Monica lose a game for the Cougars to win their first league championship. Santa Monica is 6-2 and 3-1.

“Offensively we didn’t click,” Southwest Coach Henry Washington said. “Defensively we responded like we were supposed to, but offensively we couldn’t click.”

Southwest fumbled three times, quarterback Jesse Wallace was seven-for-27 passing with two interceptions and wide receiver William Jarrett dropped two passes that would have been touchdowns.

But Southwest, the 15-ranked team in the state and 22nd nationally, kept in the game with a strong defensive effort. The Cougars recovered three fumbles and Victor Myles blocked a field-goal attempt and had a key sack.

The Cougars also limited the Corsairs to 266 yards, well below their 409 per-game average. Santa Monica took a 7-0 lead when Dion Bergeron passed 21 yards to Greg Hooks for the score. Southwest tied the score on a 28-yard keeper by Wallace.

With 37 seconds remaining in the first half, Wallace fumbled and Santa Monica’s Darren Johnson recovered at the Cougar 11. Two plays later, Bergeron passed 14 yards to Isaac Bruce for a 14-7 lead.

Santa Monica’s Keith Hawkins recovered a Chad Irving fumble and ran 23 yards for a touchdown and 21-7 lead in the third quarter.

Southwest’s Mike Brooks recovered a Santa Monica fumble on the Corsair 20-yard line with 5:37 left in the third quarter. Six plays later fullback Takim Brown scored on a two-yard run to cut the deficit to 21-14.

The Cougars had two long drives in the fourth quarter but were unable to score the game-tying touchdown.

Southwest’s first drive lasted 14 plays and was halted on the Corsair 32 when Wallace completed a pass to Anderson Montgomery, who lost 11 yards on a fourth-and-11 play.

Southwest’s final hope ended when Wallace was sacked by Kareeb Harbin and Darren Johnson on a fourth-and-33 play with 1:17 left in the game.