Page 6 November 28, 2013 TORRANCE TRIBUNE Up and Adam Orgeron Fighting On By Adam Serrao These certainly aren’t the days of Lane Kiffin anymore. Naturally, everyone who follows USC already knows that and head athletic director Pat Haden knows that as well. Haden’s job may have just gotten a little bit easier, though. With Kiffin’s departure, a distinct hole was left in the coaching regime of the USC football team. There were questions as to who would take over and which big names were on the radar. As a few high-profile coaches were spoken of in the media, Ed Orgeron simply kept at his job. Arizona, Utah and Oregon State all fell victim to Orgeron and the interim tag that has been placed upon him. Then, as if those wins weren’t good enough, Orgeron and his Trojans took on and defeated the number four-ranked Stanford Cardinal, who just beat a powerhouse in the Oregon Ducks themselves. If the win did nothing else at all, it certainly helped Haden in his exploration for a new coach. He can stop that search now. The Trojans next big-name coach has been right in front of them all along and his name is “Coach O.” With his slight down-south accent and the infectious personality that unmistakably follows Oregron around, it has become clear that he is the best coaching choice for the USC Trojans going forward. In a feat that seemed completely improbable, Orgeron has turned the Trojans around from a team that constantly bickered with each other and lost games at an overwhelmingly irritating rate for its fans to a team that has been invigorated with a breath of life and a sense of purpose. Just two months ago, the Coliseum--a stadium that has witnessed so much greatness over the past decade and more--was half empty, watching Kiffin’s Trojans stumble around the field, attempting to play a style of sport that he chose to call football. That same stadium was half empty two weeks ago, but those empty seats were still warm from the bodies that had left them and charged the field to surround the Trojans and Orgeron after an amazing upset victory over number four Stanford. Forget all of the big names. Coach Orgeron has quickly turned his own name into the most popular one around campus, endeared by both fans and players alike. “When you have a father figure like Coach O come in here and take us under his wings and treat us like his own, we just want to run through a brick wall for him,” said linebacker for the Trojans Hayes Pullard. If Orgeron is a father figure that has taken the team under his wings, then Kiffin must have been the mistress that Haden and the Trojans hired on just for attention. Undoubtedly, that is something that comes with the head coaching position of the USC Trojans. The proprietor of the position, oftentimes, must be a wellknown or “sexy” name, as they say. That is precisely why Kiffin was hired in the first place, but it is also precisely why Haden should have learned his lesson. Orgeron is as “sexy” as it gets and if he doesn’t get the opportunity to prove that with USC, he will certainly get it done elsewhere. Haden has certainly made it clear that Orgeron is on his radar in a search for a new head coach. “What Ed has done has been absolutely remarkable,” Haden told KFWB-AM. “He is clearly in our eyesight. We understand. It’s not just the fans. We’re sophisticated enough and know enough about this to understand the attributes that he has, and he’s a known quantity.” But Haden is still hesitant to remove the interim tag, raising many questions. Does he think he can find a better coach? Does he have an agreement in place with Denver Broncos’ defensive coordinator and former USC All-American Jack Del Rio? Haden explained, “My job is to find the best coach of USC, not just for this year, for five or six or eight games or next year, but hopefully for five, 10 or 15 years. The good news is we had a lot of time to think about this thing and to really open the universe to potential opportunities because this is a really good job.” The longer Haden waits, however, the more restless his fan base will become. The coach that he wishes to find is already on his sidelines. All that is necessary now is that Haden remove the interim tag. Haden has already put it out there on the table that he won’t make any decisions until the season is over. Perhaps that is the smartest and most fair way to go about things if you are the athletic director of a program like USC. But the name Ed Orgeron is beginning to make more and more sense. If Haden wants someone who is going to stick around, someone who is going to bring in four-and-five-star recruits and most importantly, someone who is going to win games, Orgeron is his man. There is no doubt that he already has the players’ support. He certainly has the fans’ support. Now all that Coach O needs is the support of his bosses. The process of turning USC’s football program around has already begun and Ed Orgeron is the man who should finish what he has started here in Los Angeles. • Torrance Tumbles Against Powerhouse By Adam Serrao The Torrance Tartars have finally found themselves back in the playoffs and after their 42-20 victory over Azusa two weeks ago, have made it to the second round for the first time since the 2004-2005 season. The Tartars have been rolling on all cylinders, especially towards the second half of the season this year and have been doing it behind an impressive running game. Bobby Wilson, Sean Luna and David Aros have formed a three-headed monster for the Tartars that has bowled over opponents and carried the team to a third place finish in the Pioneer League standings and a date with Nordhoff in the second round of the playoffs. The Tartars have beaten the Tri Valley League’s Rangers before, outscoring them by one point in the quarterfinals of the 2011-12 playoffs with Dale Rouse (West Torrance #4) was able to gain some yards with this run in the second quarter of play in the West Torrance - Palmdale CIF Northern Division quarterfinals. Photos by Dirk Derwachter. a 34-33 victory. This year, though, the matchup proved to be not-so-ideal for Torrance. Nordhoff, last year’s reigning champions and competitors in the semifinals of the CIF playoffs twice in the past three seasons, overcame a fast start last Friday night at Zamperini Stadium and withstood a strong final push from the Tartars to eventually take a 38-20 win and eliminate Torrance from playoff contention. The Tartars came out ready to play, still riding a high from last week’s first round victory over Azusa. Knowing that a game against Nordhoff is never an easy task to handle, Torrance attempted to get started right away. The Tartars put the first points of the game up on the board and left it to none other than their running game to get things started. It was Aros this time who took the ball in from one yard out and after a successful extra point gave Torrance a 7-0 lead. Unfortunately for the Tartars, that touchdown served to wake a sleeping giant. After the first touchdown of the game, Nordhoff put up 38 consecutive points to eventually take a 38-7 lead and practically blow the game out of the water. Those points were spread out over four quarters, with seven in the first but a big 17-spot in the second quarter while holding Torrance to zero. What was once a 7-0 Tartars’ lead became 24-7 at the half and 38-7 into the fourth. Backup quarterback Vincent Huey attempted to rally the Tartars in the fourth quarter, tossing a 10-yard touchdown pass to Sam Hudson for Torrance’s second score of the game and driving the ball down the field for Tyree Harris to score on a five-yard touchdown run to bring the score to 38-20. Huey passed for 72 yards in relief for the Tartars while the crux of their offense came on the ground again. Harris was the leading rusher for Torrance, compiling 81 yards and a touchdown on just eight carries. While the Torrance running game is normally stout, though, Nordhoff’s ground game is what really came up big. Matt Woodcock rushed 21 times for 144 yards and three touchdowns for Nordhoff, continually leading the charge on offense and running Torrance right out of the game. A successful season for head coach Rock Hollis and the Tartars came to an end there, but the team can take solace in the fact that it made it past the first round of the playoffs for the first time in almost 10 years. West High After an offensive explosion two weeks ago that led the West High Warriors to a 35-27 victory over Canyon, Greg Holt and his team were locked in a defensive struggle in the second round against Palmdale. You wouldn’t know it was a defensive battle by looking at the first half stats for the Warriors, however. They allowed 244 yards and two touchdowns to a Palmdale team that just about came away with a victory. Once the defense woke up, so did the Warriors as they rallied for a 17-14 victory last Friday night against the Falcons. The Warriors were able to get themselves on the board first in the game behind their standout starting quarterback Zach Heeger. Heeger connected with Kurtis Guelff on a 12-yard touchdown pass to give his team the lead and most of the momentum to start things off. Palmdale was able to answer right back with a 53-yard touchdown of its own before gashing the Warriors’ defense again for another 99-yard touchdown to give the Falcons a 14-7 lead with 10 minutes remaining in the half. The Warriors added a field goal just before the half expired to pull within four at 14-10. The second half is when the Warriors really stepped up, as they had been prepared to do. “We came in wanting to out-tempo them and win the second half,” Heeger said. “We started off hot and stepped it up in the second half. I give all the credit to the defense. They won this game for us.” That defense held Palmdale scoreless the entire second half and force five punts. It gave Heeger and the offense just enough opportunity to get the go-ahead score on the board. Going 80 yards in just 13 plays, Heeger spotted Dale Rouse wide open. Twenty-one yards later, the Warriors not only had another touchdown, but also found themselves a convenient 17-14 second round playoff victory. Heeger was once again the star of the night for the Warriors, going 19 of 36 for 184 yards and two touchdowns despite a semi-stagnant offense due in large part to a tough Palmdale D. “Our offense wasn’t clicking much, but give credit to Palmdale,” explained Holt. “We’re in the second round of the playoffs and they’re not league champions for nothing.” The league champions he spoke of are the Hart Indians, who are coming off an impressive 33-12 victory over the Bay League’s own Palos Verdes Sea Kings. All that stands between West and another CIF championship appearance is this Friday’s game. • Lots of smiles and excitement on the West Torrance sideline following their 17-14 victory against Palmdale in the CIF Northern Divisional quarterfinals.
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