Have you ever wondered why the Santa Monica College football team doesn't have their own web site?

Cause they can’t put 3 w’s in a row…

OK, it’s an old joke and I can’t remember where I heard it first. The Corsairs had won two straight games, but even if they had won Saturday night, it would have been very unlikely that SMC could have made it into the post season with their record. The loss to East LA College Saturday night solidified it: the only thing the Corsairs have left to play for is pride.

The Southern California Football Association (SCFA) oversees California community college football and sets the guideline for who earns a shot at the playoffs. The colleges are divided among two divisions and five conferences. The National Division is made up of the Northern, Central and Southern Conferences. The American Division has only two conferences: Mountain and Pacific. Santa Monica College is in the American Division, Pacific Conference, or simply, the American Pacific Division.

SMC is now 2-3 in the conference and 2-8 overall. If they win the last two games of the season the Corsairs finish the season with a 4-3 conference record, and a 4-10 overall record, which is technically a winning season because only conference games count.

SMC’s last two games are on the road. Next week they play winless L A Southwest, then in two weeks, they play American Pacific Division leader L A Pierce. L A Pierce is ranked 14th in Southern California by California Community College Regional State Football Poll. Pierce was defeated by powerhouses Allan Hancock and Fullerton and defeated ELAC by only 35-27. Consequently, Pierce and SMC are not as unevenly matched as the records suggest. Pierce's victories were also against teams with an under 500 record. SMC can defeate Pierce College.

Coulda, woulda, shoulda – the Corsairs didn't win last Saturday. I believe the key to the 14 point East Los Angeles College victory was because they did exactly the same thing that SMC did last week against West L A – they played solid ball, and when needed, played unconventionally. They took outrageous risks that paid off. On a fourth and four from their own 21 yard line, ELAC faked a punt and their line backer, Steven Torres, ran for a 21 yard gain and a first down. The next big play of this drive was a Pedro Velasquez pass to wide receiver Michael Allen for 35 yards. The drive ended with a six yard touch down run from running back Isam Pegues. The point after was good and ELAC took a 7-0 lead.

ELAC’s kicker Mauric Figueroa bangs a 61 yard kick to the SMC nine yard line. SMC running back, Kendall Gordan, returned it 45 yards. The next big play of this drive was a Zachar Scribner pass to SMC wide receiver Gerryl Benett for 22 yards. SMC settles for three and the score is 7-3.

ELAC gets down to business immediately. Velasquez again connected with Allen for the touchdown, this time for 66 yards and a 14-3 lead.

SMC replies – on the sixth play of the drive Scribner completed a 20 yard pass to wide receiver Fletcher Chase for the touchdown and narrowed the gap to 14-10 in favor of East L A. The first quarter ends with a total of 25 points scored.

The shoot-out continued into the second quarter. SMC scored on their next possession: the drive started at their own 26 yard line. Running back Travis Rawls struggles for a five yard gain and then rips one for 40 yards on the next play. On fourth and nine from the ELAC 13, SMC coaches, led by Gifford Lindheim, did exactly what common sense dictates – they attempted a field goal. Rony Estrada completed his second three-pointer of the night narrowing the ELAC lead to 1 point.

The SMC defense stops ELAC cold and the offense takes charge from their own eight yard line. What a drive: Rawls rushed for eight yards; Scribner completed a seven yard gain to tight end Thomas Garcia; Rawls rushes again for 16 yards; Scribner connected with wide receiver Anthony Windom for 14 yards; Rawls rushes for 24 yards, then Scribner completed a 26 yard pass to Chase for the touchdown. The kick is good and SMC goes into the locker with a half-time lead of 20-14.

Something must have ticked-off East L A because they started the second half on fire. ELAC defensive back Jeremy Harris returned a respectable 47 yard Estrada punt 86 yards for the touchdown. Figueroa missed the extra point and score is tied at 20 all.

SMC wasted no time responding. Scribner completed a 23 yard pass to Sayyid Rivers then hooked up with Windom for 42 yards. In three plays SMC moved the ball 56 yards and regain the lead: Corsairs 27, Huskies 20.

It first appeared that SMC’s defense would be the deciding factor in the game when defensive back Adyel Annelus intercepted a Velsaquez pass near mid field, but Scribner simply went cold and SMC goes three and out.

It took East L A eight plays to move the ball 40 yards, but the drive was capped off with a nine yard run by a Velsaquez keeper. The score was again knotted up, this time at 27 points.

With 7:06 left in the third quarter, ELAC’s next scoring drive began at their own 15 yard line. With a couple solid five to nine yard gains, a 19 yard Velsaquez pass to wide receiver Jorge Valdovinos, two Velsaquez to Allen 18 plus yard gains, and because the point after was blocked, East L A now led 33-27.

SMC answered with an Estrada 20 yard field goal with 41 seconds on the clock and narrowed the score to 33-30.

East L A put the nail in the coffin on their next possession. Velsaquez connected with his fav receiver of the night, Michael Allen, for a 78 yard touchdown. The two point attempt failed and the third quarter ended ELAC 39, SMC 30.

The East L A defense stopped SMC cold in the first possession of the fourth quarter. Starting from near midfield, and with sold gains, East L A chipped away at the SMC defense. Then Velsaquez hooked up with wide receiver Anthony Denham for a 35 yard touchdown pass. Once again the Figueroa point after attempt failed and the score climbed to 45-30.

East L A was not finished. Again with consistent, solid, short yardage gains, they score again with 9:55 on the clock: East L A 51, SMC 30.

Even though it was too little, too late, SMC showed grit by not giving up. With 5:09 left in the game, Scribner connected with Gerryl Benett for a 75 yard completion to the ELAC 12. A couple plays later Rawls bangs it in for a one yard touchdown to come within 14 points. The Corsairs attempted an onside kick but ELAC recovered it and burned up the remaining clock.

East L A Coach Lynn Cain said that his team prepared and worked very hard for this game. “We knew it would be an emotional game. We knew that Santa Monica would be hyped for it, but we felt like we’d just hang in there; we’d get our breaks and things would go our way,” he said.

Despite the loss, the Corsairs continue to improve. Defensively, Joseph Alvarez, Stephen Gentili, James Reeves and Carl Capers each had at least at least six individual or assisted tackles. Quarterback Zachary Scribner was 18-39-1: the first game of the year with only one lost turnover. Running back Travis Rawls had 22 carries for 166 yards: an average 7.5 yards per carry. In the receiving department, Anthony Windom had five catches for 77 yards, one for 42 yards. Gerryl Bennett had four catches for 106 yards, his longest - 75 yards. Sayyid Rivers had four catches for 79 total yards. Fletcher Chase had three for 54 yards including a 26 yard snag. Rony Estrada made three straight field goals: prior to this game, SMC didn’t have three consecutive field goals the whole season.

Coach Lynn said “both teams are talented teams. Your quarterback, wide receivers and running backs make SMC an overall strong team.”