Page 6 September 17, 2015 EL SEGUNDO HERALD USC or UCLA? By Adam Serrao, asixlion@earthlink.net The question of whether the USC Trojans or the UCLA Bruins are the better football team isn’t just a question being asked here in Southern California. California itself has one of the most loaded talent pools in the entire nation and therefore, people tend to pay attention. The rivalry between the two schools is historic and naturally, runs deep. This year it will perhaps run deeper than “With head coach Steve Sarkisian at the helm, USC is back at the top of recruiting as well, recently recording the No. 2 recruiting class in the nation for 2015.” ever. The Bruins, who are stringing together impressive season after impressive season under head coach Jim Mora, return almost everyone from a top-10 team one year ago. The Trojans, on the other hand, have an elite quarterback at the helm and a roster that is now completely rebuilt and ready to do damage. The rivalry between USC and UCLA is at a level right now that often times it simply is not. The ability to harness every aspect of a skilled and competitive college football team is not as easy as some might think. That same ability has evaded at least one of the two rivals at a time for almost as long as the rivalry has been existent. Right now is a special time, however. Both teams are actually good at the same time. USC is currently ranked No. 8 in the early AP Top 25 poll, while UCLA is right on their heels at No. 13. Those rankings are sure to change as the season wears on, but the fact that they are ranked so closely to one another is shaping up to the give the fans a season with bitter competition between the two clubs like they haven’t seen in quite some time. USC fans will tell you that is was Reggie Bush that ruined the team and led it to its down years. The days of Reggie Bush are almost completely over now and the team is closer to a full lot of 85 scholarships than they have ever been before. With head coach Steve Sarkisian at the helm, USC is back at the top of recruiting as well, recently recording the No. 2 recruiting class in the nation for 2015. Meanwhile, Jim Mora has changed the appearance of UCLA from top to bottom. A recently bottom-dwelling team has now resurfaced and become competitive under the former NFL head coaches tutelage. In three years with UCLA, Mora has not only instilled a different attitude into his team, but he has also compiled a 29-11 record and averaged better than a top 15 class in recruiting. The real outlier for USC is returning quarterback Cody Kessler. Coming off an incredible season in 2014, Kessler is back to continue to make his NFL bid with perhaps even more talent around him. An abundance of returning offensive line starters should mean better protection for the quarterback and a better-run game. Meanwhile, the Bruins lost their starting quarterback of a year ago to the NFL. With no more Brett Hundley, five-star freshman Josh Rosen will have to step in and make an impression. So far in this young season, he has already looked more than capable of doing so. The Bruins bring back almost all of an offense that ranked among the top 20 in the nation last season to surround Rosen, including the entire offensive line and all of the team’s main skill players. Now it’s clear to see why these two teams are so closely ranked this season. The season this year to determine which team will be better basically comes down to the two teams’ schedules. To start the season, both teams have relatively easy schedules and should do their part to compile victories while also getting used to their new players and systems. It won’t be long, however, before both teams are tested. A matchup with Arizona on September 26th will be UCLA’s first real test of the year while USC will get a tough matchup in week 6 when they take Eagles Impressive in 62-6 Win Over Cantwell By Gregg McMullin Photos by Gregg McMullin, unless otherwise noted The El Segundo football team is developing their own swagger and ignoring the past and is putting their opponents on notice of how good they can be. That intimidation was evident with the team’s resounding 62-6 win over From L-R captains Jason Kehl, Griffin Martes, Ashton Salts and Ducan Papalii approach midfield for the home opener coin flip. a hapless Cantwell Sacred Heart Cardinals. The score doesn’t begin to tell how bad it could have been. The running clock in the second half helped thwart a win that could have been in triple figures. The Eagles set a school record for most points scored in a quarter with 41 points. The score at halftime was 55-0 also believed to be a school record for points in a half as well as largest lead in one half. If you blinked, visited the snack bar or was texting someone you probably missed a score. Make no mistake this looked more like a computer game the players play against each other on a Saturday afternoon. As fans were still filing into Hazletine Field the rout was on. Before the large partisan Eagle faithful had barely time to sit down, after the Minute of Silence for the 9-11 victims, senior quarterback Jason Kehl found Taz Tauase open for a 21-yard touchdown pass. The Eagles got the ball back near midfield after a poor 22 yard punt by Cantwell’s Christian Valenzuela’s. Kehl then led the Eagles on six play drive that was capped by Tauaese’s 8-yard touchdown run to make it 14-0. The defense forced a fumble that was recovered by Peter Amara near Cantwell’s 13 yard line. CJ Shevlin picked up seven yards on a pass and the Kehl found Landon Sharp open for a 6-yard TD pass to make it 20-0. Just when you thought Cantwell’s fate might change they punted the ball back to the Eagles. Tauaese, who rushed for 107 yards on just six carries, picked up 43 yards on the first play. Sharpe picked up another 26 yards on a perfectly placed pass from Kehl. On the next play Tauaese found his way to the end zone from 13 yards out. It was 27-0 and there was still 2:54 left in the first quarter. On Cantwell’s ensuing possession they went backwards and ended up attempting a punt deep in their territory. El Segundo outside linebacker Mark Binder raced around See Eagles, page 11 Douglass See USC, page 14 M O R T U A R Y “Our Family Serving Yours Since 1954” B U R I A L - C R E M A T I O N - W O R L D W I D E T R A N S F E R P E T M E M O R I A L P R O D U C T S 500 EAST IMPERIAL AVENUE EL SEGUNDO, CALIFORNIA 90245 Telephone (310) 640-9325 • Fax (310) 640-0778 • FD658
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