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TORRANCE TRIBUNE August 17, 2017 Page 3
Up and Adam
Saxons Football Set to Rely on
Experience This Year
By Adam Serrao
It wasn’t much of a stretch to think that the
North High Saxons football team and their
head coach Todd Croce had what it took last
season to capture a divisional title. A little bit
of bad luck, combined with a difficult Pioneer
League schedule, however, crumbled those
plans as the Saxons finished in third place
behind both Leuzinger and their rivals from
West High, respectively. This year, the Saxons
are back and looking poised to take their division
by storm. North High will benefit from
an experienced group of starters who will be
returning to the team this season in order to
dominate their rivals from both the city of
Torrance and from around a highly competitive
Pioneer League.
The Saxons football team got off to a mediocre
start last season by winning just two
of the first four games of the regular season.
Despite a bit of bad luck in an opening day loss
to the Banning Pilots by just six points, North
was able to respond in a big way. Consecutive
victories versus Aliso Niguel and Bishop
Montgomery got the Saxons back on track,
but it wasn’t long before the team would fall
back down to earth with a loss to Culver City
to even their record out at 4-4 just before the
beginning of league play.
Quarterback Glenn Searcy led the way for
North High last year in his senior season, but
was also backed with great talent in wide receiver
JJ Belmontes and running backs Malik
Welch and Saeed Galloway, to name a few
players from the talented team. The talent put
on display by those four players was enough
to get past a few impressive teams within the
Pioneer League--but an unlucky four-point
loss to the Warriors and a 68-28 blowout on
the road at the hands of the eventual league
champions, the Leuzinger Olympians, dropped
the Saxons down to third place in the end of
the year standings with a 6-5 overall record
and a 3-2 mark in league play.
Despite their third place standing, North
was able to put together various victories
throughout the year, including wins in rivalry
games against both Torrance High and South
High in the final two games of the regular
season. Those back-to-back victories were
enough to get the Saxons an at-large bid into
the CIF playoffs, where they took on the St.
Margaret’s Tartans. Searcy was responsible for
the team’s first touchdown, which came early
in the game. Welch galloped a TD of his own
into the end zone late and accounted for 171
all-purpose yards, but a lackluster defensive
effort led to a 55-14 loss, eliminating North
from the playoffs in just the first round of play.
The Saxons’ biggest obstacle in repeating
the success that they enjoyed last season will
be in overcoming the loss of their quarterback,
Searcy, and their star running back, Welch,
who has now gone on to play ball for the
University of Nevada Wolf Pack. All in all,
North will lose 12 seniors from the 56-man
roster heading into this season. Galloway and
Belmontes will be back, however, and will
bring a ton of talent with them returning to
the roster. Now a senior, quarterback Sean
Sigala will be looking for his chance to shine
as well, and is one of 19 juniors who played
for Croce’s team last year.
A great combination of youth and talent
should be the perfect potion for Croce and North
High to take the Pioneer League by storm this
season. If they are going to look to do that,
however, they will first have to avenge losses
to Banning and Culver City. The Saxons will
get Banning in the season opener next Friday
night and will get Culver City three weeks later.
Not only will non-league opponents provide a
challenge, but a traditionally difficult Pioneer
League filled with inner-city opponents and
rivalry games will test the Saxons’ strength
every step of the way. The team will get another
crack at West High in the opening game
of league play before it takes on Leuzinger the
very next week. That two-game stretch should
do its job to tell North and its fans just how
good of a season the Saxons will be bound
to have this year.
The Pioneer League is always impossible
to predict and will boast a schedule for all
of its opponents that is daunting, to say the
least. For North High and their head coach
Todd Croce, though, confidence exudes--not
just because of the successful season that the
team experienced last year, but also because
of the talent returning to the roster this year.
If the Saxons ever had a chance to take the
league by storm and make a deep run into
the CIF playoffs, it would be in this 2017
season. Now, Croce and his influx of talent
must simply execute if they’d like to beat out
the rivals that will inevitably be breathing
down their necks all season long.
– Asixlion@Earthlink.net
Calendar of Events
Deadline for Calendar items is the prior
Thursday by noon. Calendar items are
$1 per word. Email listings to marketing@
heraldpublications.com. We take Visa and
MasterCard.
THURSDAY, AUGUST 17
• Propagation Society – Planting Seeds for the
Future, 10:30 AM., Madrona Marsh Nature
Center & Preserve, 3201 Plaza Del Amo,
free to public, Call: 310-782-3989.
FRIDAY, AUGUST 18
• Free Advance Directive Workshop, 10:00
AM. – 11:00 AM., 5315 Torrance Blvd.
Suite #B1, Call: 310-543-3402.
• Friday Fun for Kids, 10:00 AM. – 12:00
PM., free, Madrona Marsh Nature Center
& Preserve, 3201 Plaza Del Amo, Call:
310-782-3989.
• Sister Act (Torrance Theater Company),
8:00 PM., Tickets: $35/$30, James Armstrong
Theatre, 3330 Civic Center Drive,
Call: 310-781-7171.
• CITY HALL – Closed (All Day)
SATURDAY, AUGUST 19
• Torrance Certified Farmers’ Market at Wilson
Park, 8:00 AM. – 1:00 PM., 2200 Crenshaw
Blvd., Between Carson St. & Sepulveda,
Call: 310-781-7520.
• Free Concert In The Park, At The New
Amphitheater at Wilson Park, free, 4:00
PM. – 6:00 PM., 2200 Crenshaw Blvd.,
310-618-2376.
• Sister Act (Torrance Theater Company), 8:00
PM., Tickets: $35/$30, James Armstrong
Theatre, 3330 Civic Center Drive, Call:
310-781-7171.
SUNDAY, AUGUST 20
• South Bay Coastliners and Westminister
Barbershop Choruses host FREE Ice Cream
Social, 2:00 PM. – 4:00 PM., at First United
Methodist Church of Torrance, 1551 El
Prado Ave. •
Community Briefs
Partners in Policing Classes
Gearing Up For Fall
The next Partners in Policing (PIP) class
will be held this fall. This program is open
to all Torrance residents, people who work
in Torrance and anyone else that has affiliations
with the City (i.e. people that attend
school in Torrance, are members of a church
in Torrance, members of civic organizations
based in Torrance such as Kiwanis, Rotary,
Chamber of Commerce, etc). Must be 18 or
older. Registration for this class fills up quickly.
Partners in Policing is a Community Awareness
Program that educates the community through
those who are currently the closest to us, our
Neighborhood Watch Members along with
community members and business organizations.
The Program allows for the community to
“walk in the shoes of an officer,” and experience
hands-on exercises relating to the duties, services
and responsibilities of policing. Participants
will meet officers from the Gang Detail,
SWAT, K9 Detail, and interact with a variety of
officers from the details within the department.
Through the Partners in Policing Program the
community gains a better understanding of the
policing function and The Police Department
in turn receives valuable input regarding the
community policing needs.
Classes will be held every Thursday for 12
weeks from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. To register, fill
out the Partners in Policing Form on the City’s
website or contact Officer Steve Fletcher at
(310) 618-6391. – Source: Torrance PD
El Camino College to Present
New Student Welcome Day 2017
Incoming El Camino College students are
encouraged to attend “New Student Welcome
Day” for an introduction to the campus,
resources and student life.
The free event will begin with a 7:30 a.m.
check-in at Marsee Auditorium on Aug. 23,
and will include tours of the campus, introductions
to ECC programs and resources,
and a chance to purchase textbooks at the
El Camino College Bookstore.
Participants at New Student Welcome Day
can also attend workshops covering topics
such as financial aid, transfer opportunities,
student life, campus safety, library resources,
transitioning into college and other support
programs. Additional workshops will cover
ECC’s Honors Transfer Program, resources
for AB 540 students, and support services
for science, technology, engineering and
math (STEM) students.
Students at New Student Welcome Day
may also complete the required steps to enrollment
including orientation, meetings with
counselors and creating an educational plan.
Free parking will be available in Lot L,
and lunch will be provided. For more information
and to RSVP, go to www.elcamino.
edu/nswd. To receive updates and reminders
about New Student Welcome Day, text @eccwelcome
to 81010. Contact the El Camino
College Office of Outreach and School Relations
at oasr@elcamino.edu or 310-660-3487
with any questions.
– Source: El Camino College
South Bay Workforce Investment
Board Receives Grant to Serve
Homeless Veterans
The South Bay Workforce Investment Board
(SBWIB) was awarded a $97,000 grant from
U.S. Vets in Inglewood to provide employment
services to homeless veterans throughout the
South Bay region. The funding comes from
the Homeless Veteran Reintegration Program
(HVRP) through the Department of Labor’s
Veterans’ Employment and Training Service.
The funding obtained will also provide
assistance to veterans who were formerly
incarcerated or will soon be released and
are now seeking employment.
The grant will provide job training, counseling,
placement and related employment
services to expedite the reintegration of
homeless and formerly incarcerated veterans
into the labor force. Veterans with families
and those who are at risk of homelessness
also qualify for services.
The SBWIB will focus on employing many
veterans within the construction industry due
to the current high demand for job seekers
in the South Bay area with numerous major
projects taking place; including the Los
Angeles Football Stadium and Entertainment
District at Hollywood Park. The Inglewood
football stadium is projected to provide more
than 3,500 on-site jobs during construction
and more than 10,000 support jobs by the
time it is completed.
For those job seekers that may not fit within
the construction sector the SBWIB will place
them into another priority industry. SBWIB’s
Executive Director, Jan Vogel stated, “Our
partnership with U.S. Vets is very important
to us and we are honored to be able to receive
this funding and help homeless veterans gain
meaningful employment.” – Source: SBWIB •
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