Southwest Nudged by Santa Monica, 34-26

The Southwest College football team was hoping to rebound from last week’s 45-0 loss to Bakersfield and end its season with a victory over Western State Conference opponent Santa Monica at home on Saturday, but what the Cougars hoped for and what happened were two different things.

Mario Mattison scored on a seven-yard run to break a tie with 10 seconds left and lift the Corsairs to a 34-26 victory.

“That Bakersfield game took a lot out of us,” Southwest Coach Henry Washington said. “But, that is no excuse. (Santa Monica’s) coaches did a good job of preparing and we didn’t play like we were ready.”

The difference was Santa Monica’s ability to run the ball. The Corsairs (3-6-1, 1-3-1 in conference) rushed for 308 yards, including 175 by Mattison in 20 carries. Mattison scored three touchdowns.

Santa Monica’s Roosevelt Long, Hubert Rush and Steve Marshall rushed for more than 40 yards apiece.

“I didn’t expect them to run that much,” Washington said. “But our offense did a good job of running the ball too.”

The Cougars (3-6-1, 2-3) rushed for 269 yards. Katia Ransom gained 141 yards in 20 carries and scored two touchdowns.

Southwest tied the score with 7 minutes 19 seconds left in the fourth quarter on quarterback Teazell Hall’s one-yard run. Hall’s run ended a 13-play, 79-yard drive that took 8:47.

“Our offense came up big for us there when we needed them too,” Washington said.

Santa Monica led, 18-14, at halftime, but the Cougars drove 59 yards to open the third quarter with Ransom scoring on a seven-yard run.