Pierce Wins With Special Teams, 40-9

When a football team wins by 31 points, it’s fair to assume the offense enjoyed a prodigious outing.

But in Pierce College’s 40-9 Western State Conference rout of host Compton on Saturday, the Brahma offense took a back seat to a low-profile ally--the special teams.

“Coach always told us that the special teams might be the most important part of a game and today that was the case,” said Bob Rodgers, one of two Brahma players to block a Compton punt. Both plays led directly to touchdowns.

Pierce (3-2, 2-2 in conference play) finished with only 177 yards of total offense to Compton’s 178. But that was enough to hand Compton (0-5, 0-4) its 25th loss in 26 games dating to the 1989 season. Compton’s sole win since that time occurred last year when Pierce forfeited its victory over the Tartars because of an ineligible player.

Trailing, 9-0, in the second quarter with its offense stuck between gears, Pierce turned the game around with its special teams. With the ball on the 13, Brahma safety Tucker Setterberg stormed in to block a Compton punt and teammate Anthony Martinez scooped up the loose ball and ran it three yards into the end zone.

About 3 1/2 minutes later, Tartar punter Demetrius Comeaux dropped a fourth-down snap and was tackled at the Compton nine by Kesa Harding and several teammates. One play later, backup quarterback David Erhardt ran in a bootleg from the eight to give Pierce a 14-9 halftime lead.

The Brahmas put the game out of reach early in the third quarter when Rodgers blocked another Comeaux punt. Pierce’s Chris Nicoletti picked up the ball in traffic at the Compton 31 and darted into the end zone to give the Brahmas a 24-9 advantage.

The Pierce field-goal unit also figured prominently as sophomore Fernando Garcia connected on kicks of 30, 30 and 40 yards, and freshman Tim Boundy added one of 35 yards.

During a punchless first-half for Pierce that featured only two first downs and 39 yards in offense, Coach Bill Norton replaced starting quarterback Cesar Parra with Erhardt.

The freshman from Cleveland High completed eight of 14 for 64 yards, and threw a six-yard touchdown pass to fullback Anthony Florence late in the third quarter.

In the first half, Pierce punted seven times and another possession ended on a fumble. But with the Pierce defense in full control, the offense started to move the ball in the second half and finished with 12 first downs.

“Offensively, we were really out of sync early,” Norton said. “But our defense rose up, in combination with the punt-block team.

“We came here to get a win and we got it.”