EL SEGUNDO HERALD October 27, 2016 Page 5 Epic Battle Gives Eagles Win Story and Photos by Gregg McMullin The El Segundo high school football team needed to prove a point when they faced Lawndale in a key Ocean League showdown. What happened in front of an enormous home crowd was evident, the Eagles put their defensive stamp on a hard fought 14-7 win over the pungent Cardinals. The Eagles needed the win to bolster their chances of a post season playoff return after missing out on last season’s dance even though they had a 8-2 record. This season they are 7-1 and more importantly 2-1 in Ocean League play and control their own destiny. This was a classic defensive battle between two ranked teams in different divisions. Lawndale came into the game ranked eighth in Division 6 while the Eagles came into the game ranked fifth in Division 7. But in this game you threw out the records and rankings and let two hardnosed football teams prove who was best. While the Eagles have played with their unabridged hometown roster of players Lawndale has seen an upswing in transfer student athletes over the past two years which has dramatically improved the football team. Most insiders figured Lawndale’s speed and injuries to key El Segundo players would doom the Eagles. But this game not only honored the 22 Eagle senior players for their dedication to the program but it was an opportunity for this team to prove how good they are. El Segundo’s defense demonstrated once again how good they are and they flexed their muscles in the process. With Mark Binder, Angel Pacheco, Billy Brasher, Duncan Papalii, Adrian Johnson, Gabriel Fernan and Hunter Lynch manhandling the Cardinals throughout the game they held an offense averaging 37 points per game to a mere seven points. Lawndale was averaging 257 yards rushing the ball but against the Eagles they eked out 81 yards. The first half looked promising for the Eagles offense but they just couldn’t get into the scoring column with their four possessions. The Eagles had good field position but couldn’t quite find the end zone. Their only scoring opportunity came on a 47-yard field goal attempt by Jake Palmer in the second quarter. The Eagle had taken over on their own 13-yard line and drove to the Lawndale 29-yard line. Palmer’s attempt with just over a minute remaining in the first half was as close as either team would come to a scoring. The first half was dominated by the Eagles statistically speaking but in a scoreless game with so much at stake stats didn’t matter. To defensive coordinator Dan Heck it was the game he had and his defensive unit had waited for. “We looked to this game long ago because of the importance and these guys stepped up, “ he said. Though the offense had accumulated 136 yards it seemed much more than that. The defense however limited an explosive Lawndale offense to a meager 55 yards of total offense. The frustration the Cardinals showed with so little offense was obvious with the nine penalties they racked up. Not L.A. Can’t Dodge the Cubs By Adam Serrao The curse in Chicago is over. The one in Los Angeles, however, still remains. With a 5-0 victory over the Dodgers last Saturday night in Game 6 of the National League Championship Series, the Chicago Cubs qualified for their first World Series appearance since 1945. The team hasn’t won a championship since 1908. For the Dodgers, the team failed to put up even one run in their biggest game of the year. With Clayton Kershaw - the team’s best pitcher – on the mound, Los Angeles squandered yet another playoff run by losing three games in a row and watched as the Cubs celebrated their biggest win of season at Wrigley Field. The Dodgers have a strange way of creating rivals in the National League by losing in the playoffs. Two years ago, it was the St. Louis Cardinals. Last year, it was the New York Mets. This year? The Cubs. There’s quite a different feeling surrounding the loss to Chicago, though. The team that won 103 games during the regular season and finished with the league’s best record simply deserves their shot at the World Series. With one of the best pitching staffs in the league and possibly the best offense, the Dodgers did well to attempt to keep up with Chicago, but ultimately the better all-around team won the series. “We only have four more, so let’s go do it now,” an ecstatic Ben Zobrist of the Cubs explained. “We’re in the exact spot we wanted to be in. We’ve got a chance to do something that hasn’t been done in 108 years. Let’s go do it.” The Cubs left fielder will face-off against the Cleveland Indians in this year’s World Series to battle it out for the ring. Despite Cleveland having an amazing team in their own rite, destiny certainly seems to be pointing toward the dugout including the Cubs. “Making the World Series is no small feat,” said Clayton Kershaw, possibly the best pitcher in the game who has been trying his best to make it that far for seemingly his whole career. “Give a lot of credit to the Cubs the whole series, they started swinging the bats the last three games. Better team.” That better team took it to Kershaw early and often in Game 6. From the outset, you could tell that Kershaw simply didn’t have his stuff and after the first run scored in the first inning, it was obvious that both the Dodgers ace and his team were going to be in for a long night. Two runs in the first, followed by one more in the second, one in the fourth and one in the fifth, all basically given up (four earned) by the pitcher who has struggled mightily in his postseason career. A career postseason 4.55 ERA lies in stark contrast to his pristine 2.37 career regular season. In the end, though, it’s not just one pitcher who loses a game or a series. “You know what, I think that they beat us,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said plainly. “We made mistakes. And you hate to have sour grapes, but the better team won the series. That’s why you play seven-game series, and they showed it.” It was Chicago who had the better offense and as Game 6 plainly stated, it was also the Cubs who had the better defense. As their outfielders were consistently making dazzling gems all over the grass, the Dodgers had Andrew Toles taking his eye off the ball in left field dropping a routine fly ball for what would have been the second out of the first inning last Saturday night. While the Cubs had four, maybe even five started who could pitch deep into games in the playoffs; the Dodgers had Kershaw and rich Hill. Los Angeles was simply not deep enough where it meant the most and ran into a team that, simply stated, was. The Dodgers will now look to refocus their attention on next year after what was certainly a successful season, despite their playoff loss. The team’s needs have made themselves glaringly evident because of the playoffs, and their strengths have stood out, as well. A great first year manager, paired with an amazing rookie shortstop in Corey Seager and MVP caliber third baseman in Justin Turner all stand out as strengths for the club, among many more. Pitching, pitching, and more pitching highlight the weaknesses that fans can certainly expect to be addressed this offseason. After watching a Cubs offense that exploded for 31 runs in the six game series versus the Dodgers, more offense wouldn’t be a bad thing, either. So, it’s back to the drawing board for the Dodgers, who will open next year’s regular season April 3 at Dodger Stadium against the San Diego Padres. The team’s loss will certainly sting all offseason long, but the lessons learned will be carried over into what should certainly be another postseason run next year. The Dodgers will be looking to win their fifth National League West division title in a row while trying to also stave off their rivals from San Francisco, as usual. Naturally, no season is considered a success without a World Series ring. That’s exactly what the Dodgers will be focused on attaining once again next year. – Asixlion@earthlink.net • Taz Tauaese slips by the Lawndale defense for a first down. Tauaese gained 89 yards and a touchdown on just 11 carries against Lawndale. See Eagles, page 7
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