Page 4 November 7, 2019 EL SEGUNDO HERALD
Eagles’ Season Ends and So Does an Era
Story and Photos by Gregg McMullin
For more photos go to Facebook/esherald
and Instagram@esherald
The El Segundo High School football team
played an emotional final regular season game
in front of a packed home crowd. It was a
poignant time to honor the team’s 17 seniors
for their time, commitment and dedication to
the football program. It was also a time to
pay tribute to the team’s other senior who is
stepping down as the head football coach after
26 seasons. The game against Santa Monica
didn’t go as planned and the Eagles came
up short in their 28-20 loss to the Vikings.
Prior to the game, the senior players were
introduced along with their parents and special
guests. At the conclusion of the player
introductions, nearly 100 former Eagles who
played for head coach Steve Shevlin formed
an open huddle at the 50-yard line. Then they
made a tunnel for their speechless and emotional
coach to walk through. A very grateful
Coach Shevlin stopped to greet and hug each
of his players. Sbevlin’s special guests, his
wife April and her grandparents Andy and Jo
Orens, were there to meet him at the end of
the tunnel. “I was filled with emotion seeing
‘my guys’ and having my wife there -- it was
a humbling moment,” Shevlin said.
In the final game of the regular season, there
was so much on the line for the Eagles and
Santa Monica. The winner would finish third
in the Ocean League and most likely head
to the postseason CIF playoffs as an at-large
team. These two teams have battled each other
the past five seasons in Ocean League play.
El Segundo’s five-game winning streak over
the Vikings ended with a disappointing loss.
The game was filled with emotions running
high for both teams. With so much
at stake, the game was physically charged
and that led to a penalty-riddled game. The
Eagles were over-penalized with18 flags
going against them.
Santa Monica took a 7-0 lead when Anthony
Armon connected with Colby Bell
on a 28-yard touchdown pass. Moments
later, Viking cornerback Kayden Thomas
intercepted Connor Hochberg and returned
it for a 32-yard touchdown.
El Segundo responded with an 11-play
scoring drive that started at its own 36-yard
line. Arman Sayson, who rushed 21 times for
137 yards on the night, was the workhorse by
rushing seven times on the drive -- including
a carry just short of the goal line. Hochberg
finished off the drive with a quarterback keeper
to make it 14-7. Late in the second quarter,
the Vikings took advantage of a poor punt
and took over on the El Segundo 37-yard
line. Three plays later, Armon connected
with Ian Gomez on a 32-yard touchdown
pass play. In the third quarter, the Vikings
scored on their opening possession of the
second half. With the benefit of a couple of
penalties, Santa Monica scored on a long
touchdown pass to make it 28-7.
The Eagles mounted a comeback that included
a defensive effort that limited the Vikings
to a total of 34 yards after Samo’s opening
possession of the second half. Seven plays
went for negative yards, led by defensive
standouts Luis Beas, Jose Hurtado and David
Madrid. A sack of the quarterback led to an
18-yard loss.
The offense started clicking and Hochberg
led his team on a time-consuming nine-play
scoring drive. The Eagles capped the drive
on a trick play when Hochberg handed off
to Sayson, who swept right. Sayson abruptly
stopped and tossed a seven-yard TD pass back
to Hochberg for the score to make it 28-13.
Nick Villa then forced a fumble that was
recovered by Justin Gil at the Santa Monica
42-yard line. Four plays later, Hochberg found
Scott Melton in the end zone on a 33-yard
touchdown highlight catch with 48 seconds
remaining in the fourth quarter.
Trailing 28-20, El Segundo attempted an
onside kick that was initially recovered by the
Eagles. There were numerous flags thrown on
the play, but in the end the officials handed
the ball back to Santa Monica and with it essentially
the game.
It marked the end of the Eagles’ season
when they were not awarded an at-large
playoff berth. It also marked the end of an
Sports
See Eagles, page 14
Christina Ramirez (center) poses with her family on Senior Night.
Many of Coach Steve Shevlin’s former players from over the years returned to surprise him at his final game. In this epic photo, he posed with his former players and this year’s team. Photo by: Jeff Wilson available at: www.JWPartyPictures.com
Chloe Samia poses with her parents on Senior Night.
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