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EL SEGUNDO HERALD October 5, 2017 Page 5
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El Segundo Eagles Rout South
Torrance Spartans 49-0
By Gregg McMullin
The El Segundo Eagles improved to 5-0
after defeating South Torrance 49-0 on a windy
fall evening. It was such a lopsided game that
a running clock, for the fourth quarter, was
implemented. It was the seventh consecutive
time the Eagles have defeated a once-proud
South Torrance football team. South was one
of the South Bay’s top football programs,
but has fallen on hard times in the past few
seasons. With the win the Eagles won their
school-record 20th consecutive non-league
game, and for the fourth season in a row have
run the table on their non-league schedule.
The Eagles started strongly defensively and
then the offense took charge to take over a game
that wasn’t close. El Segundo’s defense held
the Spartans to 99 yards of total offense and
three turnovers that led to touchdowns. Kyle
Freeman returned an interception 86 yards for
a touchdown. Alex Ron forced a fumble that
Colin McEwan was one big reason the Eagles held South Torrance to just 99 yards of total offense.
was recovered by Shawn Lyon and led to El
Segundo’s first touchdown. James Amerault
forced a fumble that was recovered by Tyler
Villalobos at the Spartan 30-yard line that
also led to a touchdown.
El Segundo’s offense wasn’t tested much
by the South Torrance defense. The Eagles
had seven possessions and scored touchdowns
on six of them. Romero had another solid
game, completing seven of nine passes for
126 yards and two more touchdowns. Though
the Eagles combined to rush for 226 yards, it
was spread out among seven players. Danny
McEntee led the way, rushing six times for
58 yards and a touchdown.
It didn’t take long after the Eagles took over
deep in Spartan territory after Lyon recovered
a fumble. Two plays later, McEntee followed
a Jess Caravello block towards the end zone
from 12 yards out. McEntee fumbled the ball
in the end zone, but it was recovered by Scott
Melton for an El Segundo score.
On their next possession, Romero guided
the Eagle offense 80 yards in seven plays to
extend the lead. Romero accounted for 76 of
those yards by completing four passes for 61
yards and picking up 15 yards running the
ball. Romero found Melton open for a 27-yard
touchdown pass and a 14-0 lead.
On the first play of South Torrance’s next
possession, Villalobos recovered a fumble. Three
plays later, the Eagles found the end zone on
a three-yard touchdown run to make it 21-0.
Just when it appeared that the Spartans were
finding a way to move the ball, the El Segundo
defense came up with a big play. Defensive back
Kyle Freeman stepped in front of Spartan receiver
Javin Fish and intercepted a pass. He returned it
down the South Torrance sideline 86 yards for
a touchdown and a 28-0 lead before halftime.
El Segundo’s total dominance in the first half
on both sides of the ball was apparent. The
Spartans could muster just 71 yards of total
offense. Of their six first downs, three were a
result of penalties by the Eagles.
To start the second half, the Eagles needed
just three plays to stretch their lead. Romero
scrambled for 20 yards. McEntee picked up
another 11 yards rushing the ball and then
caught a 39-yard pass for a touchdown to
make it 35-0.
South’s first possession of the second half
looked promising after a 41-yard pass play.
But a running play that went nowhere and
consecutive incomplete passes turned the ball
back over to the El Segundo offense.
El Segundo took over at its own 12-yard line
and went the distance in seven plays. Jorge
Montani had three rushes for 20 yards, Romero
picked up a first down with another 13-yard
gain, and Joey Gorte rushed twice for 45 yards
including a 39-yard touchdown run. Once Gorte
got past the line of scrimmage, he easily outran
the Spartan secondary for the score.
The Magic Runs out for
Sam Darnold, USC Trojans
By Adam Serrao
The projected number one quarterback in
next year’s NFL Draft finally had his (and his
team’s) magic run out last Friday night in Pullman
when the fifth-ranked USC Trojans took
on the number 26 Washington State Cougars.
Though the game was close and particularly
exciting in the final quarter of play, Sam Darnold
was outplayed by his Washington State
counterpart, Luke Falk. There is absolutely no
doubting the fact that this year’s Trojan team
is exciting, to say the least, but their 30-27
loss on the road may just have proven that
they are vulnerable as well.
Darnold is the engine that makes the USC
Trojans Mack Truck run. Despite being the
heart of the team, however, the quarterback
was extremely inconsistent in last week’s loss
to the Cougars. While Darnold watched Falk
complete 34 of 51 passes for 340 yards and two
touchdowns, he struggled mightily--completing
just 15 of 29 passes through the air for 164
yards and an interception. Multiple injuries along
the Trojans offensive line certainly didn’t help
Darnold and his team’s cause either, but there
is now reason to believe that the sophomore
quarterback might need a bit more experience
before he’s ready to be called one of the best
quarterbacks in all of college football.
Despite not throwing for a touchdown, Darnold
was able to run it in not once, but twice
for touchdowns on the ground. Even still, it
was the first time in 15 career starts that he
failed to throw for more than 200 yards as
his passes were inconsistent and his decisions
remained questionable at best. It was even
Darnold who gave away the ball on the final
possession of the game as he tried to lead
his team from behind to victory, fumbling
the ball directly into the arms of the waiting
Washington State defense.
“I thought Sam made some really good plays
and there wasn’t good plays,” said Trojans
quarterbacks coach Tyson Helton. “That’s playing
quarterback, though. You’re going to have
some good plays and you’re not going to have
good plays.” Darnold’s struggles may be more
telling of one bad night on the job as opposed
to a quarterback who’s simply not ready yet,
though. His inconsistency is certainly hurting
the Trojans, but a subpar offensive line may
have more to do with bad play coming from the
quarterback position than anything else. USC
lost three starters on the O-line to the NFL
this offseason and another three to injury this
year already. A team that gave up a total of 12
sacks all of last season has already given up
nine through five games of the regular season.
Despite injuries mounting up, neither Washington
State nor any other opponent will feel
bad for USC or give the Trojans any breaks.
Even Darnold acknowledged that as a quarterback
and leader on the team, he needs to
play better. “I think I didn’t play my best, for
sure,” he explained. “There’s a lot to learn from.
We’re going to look at the film and learn from
there.” Darnold was thrust into his first role as
starting quarterback of the USC Trojans almost
exactly one year ago to the week. To say that
he is not necessarily the best quarterback in
all of college football is less of a crucifixion
of the sophomore and more of an admission
that no matter how talented you are, there is
much to learn going forward about a position
as complex and important as the quarterback
position is.
The Trojans’ winning streak has officially
ended at 13 games and has dropped the team
out of the number five seed in the rankings.
USC had previously looked vulnerable in its last
two games against Texas and Cal, respectively.
Those vulnerabilities finally caught up with
them all at once in the loss to the Cougars.
It wasn’t just Darnold’s fumble that lost the
team the game. It was the lack of execution on
both sides of the ball that allowed Washington
State to hang around all night before it finally
pulled the rug out from underneath the Trojans.
As good as Darnold has the potential to
be, it is perhaps his aggressiveness that leads
to mistakes and eventually puts stress on the
defense and the team as a whole. While he has
thrown nine touchdown passes this season, he
has also thrown eight interceptions through just
the first five games in what can be seen as a
clear attempt to simply try to do too much for
his team. Darnold threw nine interceptions all
of last season through 10 total starts. While
USC’s starting quarterback remains one of the
top prospects in all of college football, it may
be his inconsistent play that has led the team
to risky performances and the first loss of the
regular season rather than becoming the top
team in the nation.
The Trojans and Darnold still have the opportunity
to turn things around following their
loss and drop in the rankings. This week’s
date against the Oregon State Beavers should
be the perfect get-right game before USC
takes on the currently 20th-ranked Utah Utes.
Matchups against Notre Dame and UCLA will
round out the schedule for the Trojans as they
look to rebound and make it into this year’s
Pac-12 championship game. While USC and
Darnold are fully expected to shake off the
rust and win every game remaining on their
schedule, there is no doubting the fact that a
bit of the magic surrounding the team and their
quarterback has now been lost.
– Aserrao6@yahoo.com •
Kyle Freeman on his way to an 86-yard interception return for a touchdown.
See Eagles, page 20