Vaqs in search of first victory
In its first three outings, the Glendale Community College football team has yielded 43.3 points per game.
The numbers are staggering, leaving Vaqueros Coach John Rome perplexed.
Things don’t figure to get any easier when Glendale hosts Allan Hancock in a nonconference contest at 6 p.m. today at Sartoris Field.
“We are doing anything we possibly can to correct our mistakes and get better defensively,” said Rome, whose team dropped to 0-3 following a 48-17 nonconference home loss against East Los Angeles on Sept. 17. “We are going to have to scheme better defensively and get our people in the right position and keep them at the line of scrimmage.
“We have to be able to pay attention to everything that’s going on out there.”
The Vaqueros will be in position to pay plenty of attention to Hancock (3-0). The Bulldogs posted a 44-17 nonconference home win against Moorpark College on Sept. 17. They dominated on the ground and in the air with their relentless offensive attack directed by running back Cameron Artis-Payne and wide receiver Shane Henderson.
Artis-Payne rushed for 148 and a pair of touchdowns against Moorpark. Henderson caught eight passes for 155 yards.
Allan Hancock is second among all Southern California teams in scoring. The Bulldogs are averaging 44 points per game in victories against Santa Barbara City College, Pasadena City College and Moorpark. Only Riverside Community College has scored more, averaging 63 points per contest.
Glendale, which competed for two seasons with Allan Hancock when the two squads were members of the Northern Conference’s National Division, will seek to reduce the numbers compiled by Artis-Payne and Henderson after surrendering 596 yards of total offense against East L.A.
“We have to be able to align correctly by pursuing the ball and being able to tackle that much better,” said Rome, whose team suffered a 44-28 loss against Allan Hancock last season at Righetti High. “They are the team that we want to be like in that they run straight at you and they are extremely large.
“We are going to do anything we can to correct our mistakes and get better. It’s a step-by-step process.”
Against East L.A., the Vaqueros got a stellar performance from running back Joseph Wiggan. Wiggan rushed for 87 yards in nine carries and scored a pair of rushing touchdowns. Vaquero quarterback Kevin Hunter completed 11 of 22 tosses for 137 yards and wide receiver Darren Morrow caught six passes for 74 yards.
The Vaqueros rank 32nd in Southern California in scoring, averaging 17.3 points per game against Pasadena, Golden West and East L.A. Hancock is sixth in Southern California in scoring defense, allowing 17.3 points per game.
Rome said the Vaqueros will have tight end Kevin Martinez and linebacker Nick Mateus back in the lineup today. The duo missed the previous two contests because of injuries.
