Glendale college football gets first win of season against Compton College
GLENDALE — The Glendale Community College football team came alive on the sidelines midway through the third quarter after corner Torres Ingraham intercepted a pass from Compton College quarterback Jesse Brew III in an American Metro Conference game.
“I’ve waited six weeks for that,” said Ingraham to a teammate as he knelt on the sideline, breathing heavily.
The sentiment was shared among the Vaqueros players and coaches at the final whistle.
Glendale clicked in the second half on its way to it’s first win of the season with a 41-27 victory over Compton College on Saturday at Sartoris Field.
“It was nice to be able to run the ball and it was nice to be able to move forward and utilize the clock to our advantage,” Glendale coach John Rome said. “Once we kept their quarterback contained, then he wasn’t going to beat us with his arm.”
The Vaqueros (1-7, 1-2 in conference) came back from an 11-point deficit early in the second half on their way to scoring the most points in a game this year.
Glendale quarterback Jorge Amaya came into the game in the second half and completed three of five passes for 87 yards and a touchdown, while also adding 35 yards and a touchdown on five keeps.
Vaqueros running back Tru Fugate scored twice on 13 carries and 90 yards and added a 46-yard touchdown reception for Glendale. St. Francis grad and Glendale running back Elijah Washington added 19 carries for 121 yards.
Brew III finished with 12 of 24 passing for 157 yards and two touchdowns, while Tartars receiver Arsiah McCorker caught four passes for 95 yards and two touchdowns. Brew also ran seven times for 81 yards and a touchdown.
The Compton defense intercepted Glendale starting quarterback Nathan Eldridge (11 of 19 passing, 82 yards, interception) and returned it for a 60-yard touchdown to take a 7-0 lead at 13:39 in the first quarter.
Eldridge regrouped on the ensuing Vaqueros drive to set up Crescenta Valley grad and Glendale kicker Kevin McCollum for a 37-yard field goal to cut the Tartars lead to 7-3 at 10:51.
On its next possession, Compton (0-6, 0-3) capped a 12-play drive to take a 14-3 lead on a seven-yard quarterback run with 4:49 in the first.
“We hurt ourselves in the first half and probably took ourselves out of two drives on personal fouls,” Rome said. “It gave us a little bit more breathing room, but we still make the same mistakes. You can put lipstick on a pig all you want.”
Fugate finished off the first-half scoring with a 21-yard run on fourth down to slice the Compton lead to 14-10 with 23.2 left in the opening quarter.
“In the first half, we weren’t really executing the plays fully,” Fugate said. “There were mishaps and little penalties — stuff like that. In the second half, we came out with the mindset that this is our house. We have to win. Then we started moving the ball a little bit.”
Compton, which was coming off of a bye last week, opened the second half with a 48-yard catch-and-run touchdown from McCorker to finish off a four-play drive for a 21-10 lead at 13:16 in the third.
The Vaqueros scored on their first possession of the half with a six-yard run from Fugate with 9:01 in the third, before Ingraham intercepted a Compton pass attempt at 6:41 to set up Glendale at its own 39-yard line. Amaya helped give Glendale its first lead, 24-21, with a one-yard sneak with 4:11 remaining in the third.
Glendale made its advantage 31-21 when Fugate caught an Amaya pass near midfield and marched his way down for a 46-yard touchdown to start the fourth quarter.
“We were able to get the edge on our outside zone runs,” said Amaya on the key to the offense’s success in the second half. “That really got us a bunch of chunk plays that drove us down the field.”
Compton then muffed a punt with 13:03 remaining in the fourth and Glendale took advantage with a two-yard run from James Smith to take a 38-21 lead with 10:22 left.
Brew III found McCorker again for a 21-yard touchdown connection on a quick four-play scoring drive to make it 38-27 with 8:50 left after the failed two-point conversion.
McCollum made sure there was no Compton comeback with a 43-yard field goal with 3:13 left for the final score.
“We know how good we are, but it’s just the fact that it’s now on paper,” said Fugate of the win. “It’s somewhere to start.”
Glendale will have the next weekend off with a bye.
Support our coverage by becoming a digital subscriber.