Kevin Denis rushed for 95 yards and two TDs on Saturday afternoon but Santa Monica used an efficient passing attack to beat SBCC 41-27 in an APC football game at Corsair Stadium.
The first-place Corsairs (7-1, 5-0) opened the scoring with 3:58 to go in the opening quarter when a blocked field goal bounced up in the air and directly into the arms of Ricardo Wright, who sprinted 77 yards for a touchdown.
The Vaqueros (3-5, 2-3) struck back with a 10-play TD drive of 72 yards and an 11-play march that covered 63 yards to take a 14-7 lead with 10:16 to go in the second quarter. Quarterback Jarred Evans scored the first TD on a 4-yard run and Denis got the second on a 2-yard burst over right tackle.
Evans accounted for 235 yards of total offense. The freshman from Philadelphia completed 19-of-41 passes with one TD and one interception and also ran 12 times for 68 yards and a TD.
Corsair running back Myles Johnson picked up 65 yards and two TDs while quarterback Alfonso Medina completed 14-of-24 passes for 257 yards and two scores.
“Little things like the blocked field goal for a touchdown, that’s the kind of thing you can’t do because it’s such a quick turnaround,” said SBCC coach Craig Moropoulos. “We’re really beat up right now with (linebacker) Joel Medina out for this game and (linebacker) Tom Borchert getting hurt in the first quarter. We also lost our right guard, Cass Lykken.
“When that happens, you have to pull together and be even more focused on technique and fundamentals.”
Johnson’s 1-yard TD run put the home team ahead to stay at 21-14 with 58 seconds left in the first half. Santa Monica drove 42 yards on its first possession of the third quarter and extended the lead to 28-14 on a 15-yard pass from Medina to Ralph Gordon II.
Charles Jefferson intercepted an Evans’ pass three plays later and the Corsairs scored on the very first play — a 28-yard scoring toss from Medina to Reggie Mitchell that made it 35-14 with 8:05 to go in the third period.
“In the second half, we missed a couple throws and dropped a couple. Then, we put it on our defense. We got hit over the top a few times and that’s been a problem. Their touchdowns happened very quickly.”
Denis scored his second TD on a 1-yard run with 1:35 to go in the third, pulling the Vaqueros within 15 at 35-20. The Corsairs responded with a 54-yard scoring drive to boost the margin back to 21.
SBCC covered 82 yards in nine plays for its final TD with 7:37 to play. Evans hit Kyle Brown for a 35-yard gain to the 13. On fourth-and-6 from the 9, Evans threw to Tyson Heller and the ball caromed off his hands into the arms of Jeff Walton for a 9-yard TD pass. After two false start penalties, Marcus Hoerberg connected on a 30-yard PAT kick.
SBCC travels to Glendale on Saturday at 6 p.m.
