EL SEGUNDO HERALD August 19, 2021 Page 3
El Segundo Eagles Look to Improve Their
Defense with Experience
By Gregg McMullin
The El Segundo high school football team
had a rather forgetful spring football schedule
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due to the Covid shutdown. The Eagles
played a modified five-game schedule that
fell to four games when the roster dwindled
due to injuries, and the only quarterback
left was a fourth stringer. The defense was
hampered with some players electing to play
other sports last season that took place in the
spring. Hence, many players played on both
offense and defense, and the injuries mounted.
This season will be different, according to
second-year head coach Shawn Green. After
one season under his belt, he saw what worked
and what didn’t during last season. One thing
that he’s especially excited about is the return
to the high numbers in the program. “We
have a very talented freshman class coming
in, and there are plenty of talented players.”
With approximately 40 players on the frosh/
soph team and 42 varsity players on its roster,
Coach Green says the program is in good
shape. He says the defense was suspect last
season because there were players playing
out of position, and some had little varsity
experience. This season will be different
because there will be plenty of experience.
Sports Shorts
Gundo FC Win Again
During the summer, the defense was tested
in two passing tournaments and did remarkably
well. In the Arroyo Grande Tournament,
the team won six out of seven games, and
in the prestigious Redondo Passing Tournament,
the Eagles won three out of five games.
Coach Green and defensive coordinator Mike
Wagner and assistants Joey Boulder and Jeff
Puffer discovered there was depth on defense.
“We found some players that really stepped
it up and who will contribute,” said Green.
Coach Green believes there’s so much depth
that he wouldn’t be surprised to start eleven
different players on offense and defense. He
said, “Our defensive front will go against the
starting offensive team in practice, from time
to time, to give both units a better idea of
game conditions.”
One of the most experienced players returning
is three-year starting inside linebacker
Mathew Higginbotham. Coach Green is
leaning on Higginbotham to lead the defense
with his high football IQ, athleticism, and
leadership. Besides Higginbotham, the Eagles
have six other returning players who started
or have experience. Junior cornerback Brett
Abitante has the speed and field vision to
defend the plays on the edge. Senior safeties
Tommy O’Keefe and Jack Stoker are fast and
have good size to defend a stretched-out field.
And they should give the defensive line time
to chase down the opponent’s quarterback.
Dylan Bucher is another solid corner that plays
into the Eagle’s strength in the secondary.
Linebackers David McPherson and Ed Leiva
have shown plenty of potential through the
summer tournaments and workouts.
The line will be anchored by Aiden Pagel,
a three-year varsity player. The 6’2” 270
pound senior has all of the tools to be one of
the top defensive linemen in the South Bay.
Others making an impact could be seniors
Billy McKinzie, Duke Sanders, junior Jeremy
Hoover, and sophomore Lucas Sun.
Coach Green says the key to the defense
and its strength is it’s secondary. The line is
vastly improved over last season because of
the experience they bring. The linebackers
are in tune with the defensive scheme in
place. But it’s the secondary that has shown
the team’s hidden strengths. “We’re going
to surprise some teams with how well the
safeties and corners play. They’ve shown a
lot of progress throughout the summer and
have learned a lot and the system Coach
(Mike) Wagner has in place.”
The Eagles were an undermanned and
woeful defensive unit during their four-game
schedule last season. Much can be blamed
on the pandemic and the injuries as well as
losing players to other sports. That’s all in
the past now, and the Eagles’ defense can
concentrate on the task at hand. The Eagles
gave up an average of 31 points per game
last season and look to cut that number in
half this season.
Coach Green’s approach this season is to
Aiden Pagel (left) is a three-year starter for the Eagles
By Jordan Stewart
“They’ve done it again!” AYSO Region
92’s girls U12 travel team, Gundo FC, added
another first-place trophy to their collection
last weekend after winning the FC Long
Beach Invitational. Coached by Jordan Stewart,
Lance Bustrom, and Brendan Gormley, the
Gundo FC girls have been on quite a roll
lately. After winning the Surf City Cup in
June, they finished runners-up at the Rangers
FC Summer Open in July, before winning
this most recent tournament.
Gundo FC had it all to do after losing their
first game to the Whittier Slammers by a
score of 3-1, but a 4-0 win over AYSO United
Southbay and an incredible 4-3 come from
behind win over North Huntington Beach
(NHB) saw them earn another finals spot
where they would play the same Whittier
Slammers team that had beaten them the day
before. The final was a different story though
and goals from Sienna Mattoon and Maddie
Leitch saw Gundo FC crowned champions
after a tough 2-1 win.
Gundo FC will be looking to make it backto
back winners’ medals when they close
out their tournament season in Camarillo
over the Labor Day weekend, stay tuned!” •
The winning team: Back row, left to right: Maddie Leitch, Lily Dull, Waverly Chandler, Nora Gormley. Front row, left to right: Natalie
Nguyen, Nikki Bernauer, Kelina Harvey, Riley Stewart, Hannah Bustrom, Olivia Torres, Sienna Mattoon.
See Eagles, page 10