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EL SEGUNDO HERALD September 27, 2018 Page 3
Eagles Ready For Ocean League After
Story and Photos by Gregg McMullin
The 2018 non-league schedule for the
El Segundo Eagles football schedule is
in the books after a 42-0 dismantling of
South Torrance on the road. It marked the
eighth consecutive time the Eagles had
defeated a once-proud Spartan program. It
was also the third straight time the mercy
rule running time game clock was used in
the fourth quarter.
The Eagles ran around, through and over
a challenged Spartan defensive unit. El Segundo’s
defense was at times impenetrable and
held South to just 59 yards of total offense
and only four first downs. The lone highlight
for the Spartan fans was an 83-yard kickoff
return by Jaxon Fish in the second half.
An auspicious start should have been a clue
how the night would go for the Eagles. On
the first play from scrimmage, El Segundo
defensive end Dylan Phillips sacked Spartan
QB Drew Nash for a 6-yard loss. The
Eagles would combine for six sacks of the
quarterback and two interceptions.
El Segundo had great field position throughout
the night. On their second possession,
the Eagles started on South’s 30-yard
line thanks to a defense that pinned the
Spartans deep on their end of the field. Eagle
defensive end Alex Ron had sacked Nash
for a loss on third and short to force the
Spartans to punt from their own end zone.
El Segundo took over on the South 30-yard
line and Eagle quarterback Matt Romero
went to work. He connected with Joey Gorte
for a 28-yard gain and then used a block
from his center, Gunnar Rogers, to get into
the end zone.
On the Eagles’ next possession, they took
over on the South 39-yard line. Romero
found Nate Kehl open twice -- first for an
18-yard pass play and then another for 12
yards. Romero next found James Fraelich
open in the end zone for a touchdown with
a 14-0 lead and the rout was on.
El Segundo’s defense continued to cause
headaches for the Spartans. Nick Villa intercepted
a pass and returned it 37 yards to
the Spartan 19-yard line. Seven plays later,
Arman Sayson dove into the end zone for
another score with 3:15 remaining in the
second quarter. To add to South’s misery,
Christophe Charles intercepted a pass and
returned it to the Spartan 33-yard line. Romero
found Fraelich open for 23 yards and Kehl
for another eight yards. Sayson then scored
his second touchdown of the evening on a
2-yard run with 42-seconds remaining in
the first half.
Head coach Steve Shevlin said he was
happy with the way his team played in the
first half, and especially how the defense
had stepped up. “The defense gave us the
shot in the arm we needed and it gave Matt
[Romero] a short field to start from,” he said.
In the second half, the Eagles continued
their dominance on both sides of the ball.
El Segundo took the opening possession of
the second half and methodically went 71
yards for another score -- but it came with a
price. Joey Gorte returned the kickoff to the
El Segundo 29-yard line. On the first play, he
took a pitch and ran around the left end for
a 9-yard pickup. However, he was injured on
the play after a brutal tackle by Kade Jones
and Chris Carter. Fraelich, who rushed for a
team-high 50 yards on eight carries, became
the featured running back. He picked up 17
yards on two rushing attempts. That would set
up the passing game, as Romero connected
on three consecutive tosses. Sayson’s 12-yard
run set up another touchdown by Romero to
put the Eagles on top 35-0.
On the ensuing kickoff, Fish’s 83-yard return
to the El Segundo 12-yard line provided
the lone highlight for South. The Spartans’
offense advanced to the 7-yard line where
they attempted a field goal. But on a night
that belonged to the Eagles, even a short
field goal attempt failed when Cory Craig
laid out and blocked the attempt.
El Segundo took over on its own 3-yard
line and went to the ground game. Fraelich
rushed three times for a total of 26 yards
and Romero picked up 21 yards on a keeper.
The drive stalled when Romero’s pass was
intercepted at the Spartan 11-yard line.
The Spartans went backwards with their
possession and were forced to punt. Again
the Eagles took advantage of a poor punt,
coupled with a 34-yard return by Fraelich.
The result was that El Segundo took over
inside the 10-yard line. Fraelich was rewarded
on the first play with an 8-yard touchdown
run to make it 42-0 with 1:28 remaining in
the third quarter.
With the running time in place in the fourth
quarter, each team had just one possession and
the Eagles came away with the win. It was a
milestone victory for Shevlin – his 150th as
El Segundo’s coach. Though he was excited
for his team and the win, he brushed off the
achievement and was more concerned for
Gorte and Ben Rosas. Both sat out the rest
of the game after suffering injuries.
Shevlin thought the non-league schedule
was challenging enough for his team, which
improved to 3-2 with the win over South.
“We’re ready for league play, so we’ll have
a good week of practice and be ready for a
good Hawthorne team,” he said
The Eagles travel to Hawthorne Friday
night at 7 p.m. The Cougars have given up
a total of 101 points in the past two games.
This could be a high-scoring game since the
Cougars have scored 94 points in that same
two-game span. The Eagles return home
next Friday night to host Beverly Hills for
the Homecoming Game.
Boys Water Polo Opens
Ocean League with Win
The Eagles opened their Ocean League
schedule with a 13-8 win over Beverly
Hill. Kalan Smith and Brian Schodorf
led the team by scoring three goals apiece.
Balanced scoring was distributed between
six different players. Danny Gonzalez
had three steals, two assists and one goal.
Mason Jaeger returned to action and had two
goals in his first game of the season back
from a wrist injury. The Eagles faced Palos
Verdes on Monday in a non-league game
and went on the road for the team’s second
Ocean League matchup against Culver City
on Tuesday. •
What to Expect from the New Rules for the NFL This Season
Douglass
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By Wes Trotta
While the NFL season is up and running,
many people -- including players -- are still
unclear of the new “helmet rule” that was
instated during the offseason. We have already
seen the confusion on full display in the
games. Players and commentators were left
wondering what had just happened when a flag
was thrown. Even after the referee made the
call, players were seen on the field expressing
their confusion and frustration about the
new rule. It is always expected for players
to try and defend themselves when they get
penalized. The reason fans are concerned is
because the commentators struggled to come
up with a way to defend the reason for the
flag and almost always conclude by saying,
“That’s the new helmet rule” or something
along those lines.
What does this mean for the average fan of
the National Football League? Expect a lot
of irritating moments when you think your
team just made a great play or big hit. The
new rule that has everyone concerned does
not allow for players to lower their head into
a linear position before making contact. This
comes from the idea to “only tackle what
you see.” If a player has an unobstructed
path to the ball carrier and lowers his head
when he did not have to, then a flag will be
thrown. Players used to be able to lower their
heads as long as they did not lead with the
crown of their helmet into the hit. This rule
was implemented to prevent future injuries
like the one Ryan Shazier of the Pittsburg
Steelers suffered last season. On paper,
this rule sounds extremely beneficial to the
players. However, as we saw in preseason,
not all players are fans of this rule. If you
hear a helmet collide into anyone, expect
a flag. This may only be a real problem
now in the beginning of the season because
players will be able to adapt to the new rule
and the coaches will get sick of their team
being penalized.
The rule above may infuriate fans and
players. Yet there is another rule not getting
enough attention, but it soon will. It is third
down, your team’s defense needs to make a
stop and they manage to get to the quarterback
for a huge loss. As you are cheering, you see
a flag in the backfield and the quarterback
clapping as the referee says it was roughing
the passer and an automatic first down. They
go to the replay and you don’t see anything
that seems like it was an illegal hit. The player
Joey Gorte picks up nine yards on this carry.
did not lower his helmet nor hit him low in
the legs. So, why is there a flag? There was
a new rule installed to protect quarterbacks.
The defensive player can no longer land on
the quarterback with most of his body (look
back at the Anthony Barr hit on Aaron Rodgers
last season). The defensive player cannot
unnecessarily throw the quarterback to the
ground, even if the latter still has the ball. The
new rule’s intent is to have players wrap up
the quarterback to bring him to the ground.
Telling players to change the way they’ve
stalked the quarterback their whole lives is
a recipe for disaster and gives quarterbacks
another reason to take an acting class.
No matter how softly a quarterback is hit,
he can make it look worse. This will not
happen constantly, but it does seem more
than likely that a couple games could be
decided by this new penalty.
After last season’s devastating list of
injuries to big-name stars, no one should
be surprised that the league made changes.
There is no denying that the league is more
entertaining and has more viewers when
its stars are healthy and making unbelievable
plays every week. Player safety is and
should always be the number one concern
for the league -- which is why these rules are
necessary. For the average fan, be prepared
for a lot of head-scratching moments as the
season progresses. •
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