TORRANCE TRIBUNE December 3, 2015 Page 5 Up and Adam Victory Bell 2015 High School JOIN US ON SUNDAYS FOR THE NFL FOOTBALL EXTRAVAGANZA! Food & Drink Specials in our Lounge Must be 21 years of age Monday Night Football Specials Also Available To book your event or for more information, please call Rick or Charlotte at 310.326.5120 or charlotte@pvbowl.com Trojans Take Back a punt 42 yards for a touchdown. In the third quarter, Rasheem Green picked up a Josh Rosen fumble and returned it 32-yards for a touchdown that put the Trojans ahead 26-21, and turned the tides of the game, handing Jim Mora the first loss of his career against USC while undoubtedly forcing the fourth year head coach to consider greener pastures this “There’s no telling how the Trojans will do against Stanford, but there’s also no doubting the fact that they’ve been a different team as of late under interim coach, Clay Helton.” offseason in the NFL. “It’s a new feeling for us here,” Mora explained. “The game turned, obviously, on the punt return there right before the half and the turnovers in the second half. We couldn’t get any, and they did, and they capitalized.” The Bruins didn’t capitalize on anything in the second half. Aside from an 11-play, 78 yard drive with just over three minutes remaining in the third quarter, UCLA was quiet. They simply watched as the Trojans dominated the second half of play and notched a much needed victory into the record books. “This was a great opportunity for our seniors to leave their legacy,” coach Helton said.” A legacy that will now not be remembered for former coach Steve Sarkisian, but for the Trojans gritty play under their new interim head coach. “They’re leaving their mark not only for now in the immediate moment, but for years to come.” Anytime these two teams get together and play each other, the result is remembered for all-time. The fact that it was USC’s first win in four years, however, adds just a bit to the legacy of it all. “This was a great day for four seniors,” wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster said. “Especially because we run L.A.” You couldn’t necessarily get the Lakers to argue that. A win against the Bruins means precisely that for this proud Trojans bunch. Schuster tallied six catches for 85 yards while Kessler, in his last game as a Trojan, put up three total touchdowns and 175 yards passing. Both teams have been inconsistent this year, but UCLA’s injuries and unpredictable play finally caught up to them. “I just felt like we made that defense look a lot better than they necessarily were,” Bruins quarterback Josh Rosen said. “No shots at them at all, we just didn’t execute like we should have.” An excuse from the quarterback, but UCLA fans could argue that the Bruins haven’t executed like they should have all season long. Now, the Bruins are destined for the Las Vegas Bowl while the Trojans will compete in the conference title game for the first time since 2011. - Asixlion@earthlink.net • each our vibrant city’s residents and business leaders by advertising in the Torrance Tribune! Contact Charlene Nishimura at charlenenishimura1@gmail.com or (213) 709-8590. By Adam Serrao Things didn’t look so good for USC after the first quarter of play. They were slipping right into UCLA’s hands after their first drive ended in a field goal. One of the many keys to the game was to hold your opponent to a field goal once they got into the red zone. The Bruins looked like they were doing just that. After a quarter of play, the score was 7-3 in favor of UCLA. The Bruins wouldn’t score a field goal all game long. Little did we know it, that fact would favor the Trojans. 20 unanswered second-half points was the key to the day as USC put together identical first and second halves on their way to routing UCLA and taking back the Victory Bell and the reigns to the rivalry between the two schools steeped in hatred towards one another. Cody Kessler almost began to cry as he stepped up the ladder for the last time with his sword in hand and led the USC band in song in his final game as a Trojan. The senior, celebrating senior day at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, couldn’t have ended his USC career in a better way. It’s not over yet, though. By beating UCLA 40-21 last Saturday afternoon in L.A., the Trojans earned themselves a spot in this year’s Pac-12 championship game against Stanford. The Trojans lost to Stanford 41-31 earlier in the year, but will be out to avenge that loss and not only end their season on a high note, but also put this tumultuous year behind themselves with an encouraging and strong finish to the season. There’s no telling how the Trojans will do against Stanford, but there’s also no doubting the fact that they’ve been a different team as of late under interim coach, Clay Helton. With the victory, USC improved to 5-2 under his watch, winners of their last five of six games. “This was the goal and the plan all along,” linebacker Su’a Cravens explained. “I don’t like the way we got here, but we’ll still take it.” Anytime USC’s season ends in a victory over UCLA, the players will take it. This is, after all, the first time in four years that it’s done so. When you add a Pac-12 title shot to the mix, however, things get even that much better. For what seemed to be the first time all year to fans, the Trojans played as a complete team for the entirety of the game. The offense held the ball for a total of 40 minutes while the defense and special teams did damage as well. Just before the half, Adoree Jackson returned R STARS & STRIPES A M E R I C A N M A D E C L O T H I N G S T O R E COME CHECK US OUT! GREAT CLOTHING INCLUDING DENIM, HATS, BAGS, SHOES AND MORE 1107 Van Ness Ave.Torrance, CA 90501 • 310.320-3207 LEE 101 USA, WOOLRICH, SAVE KHAKI, MINNETONKA MOCCASIN, PENNY, JAN SPORT, DULUTH, REYN SPOONER, TRETORN, BALL, BURTON, STANCE, RAINBOW SANDALS, FILSON, TEVA, NEW YORK HAT, PADDY WAX, RICHER & POORER, SCHOTT USA, STRATHTAY Open Mondays through Saturdays Noon to 6pm Football Season in Review By Adam Serrao Every High School football season can be broken down the same way. First, which team won the battle of the city of Torrance? Second, which team was able to fend off the much vaunted Bay League, that almost no Pioneer League team is ever successful against? Now that the 2015 football season has officially come to an end for all of our teams around Torrance, those two questions can easily be answered. By taking a look back at the four teams around the city, we can see which struggled the most and which were most successful. Almost inevitably the answer to who was most successful can be found by responding with North High. The North High Saxons were this year’s best bet to capture the CIF championship. The Saxon team, led by head coach Todd Croce and five-star recruit, Mique Juarez, accomplished feats this year that the team has certainly never accomplished in its history before. One of those things was four straight shutout victories while averaging over 47 points per game. Beginning with the second game of this year’s regular season, the Saxons went on a streak that was one for the ages. It led to eight straight victories and carried North into a league season that had every other team from around the city fearing them. Of course with all of the good comes a little bit of bad, too. That bad begins and ends with the Bay League. The Saxons started their season off by losing to Redondo Union by five points (26-21) in the very first game of the year. The loss caught everyone off guard for a team with such high expectations going into the year, but North was able to win their next eight straight and come away with a first place finish in the Pioneer League standings. The team’s only other loss of the regular season came to South High in the last game before playoffs. That’s when the Bay League reared its ugly head once again. After the Saxons cruised to an easy 48-14 first round playoff victory over Agoura, Mira Costa came to town. As if Juarez and the Saxons were superman and their Bay League opponents were kryptonite, North suddenly looked weak and once again, bowed down to their adversaries from Manhattan Beach. The Mustangs used 21 third quarter points to jump all over the Saxons and eventually knock them out of the playoffs. Now, the CIF final, which will be played this week, is a matchup between Palos Verdes (who beat Mira Costa in the next round) and Calabasas. Despite their premature departure from the playoffs, the Saxons (9-3, 4-1) had great moments from the 2015 season. Juarez, for example, had a highlight year in which he scored 59 total times. That stat in itself is remarkable. Other athletes having break-out seasons include impressive wide receiver Justin Allmond, wide receiver Ethan Shelton and running back Malik Welch. While Juarez, Allmond and Shelton will leave the team for college, Welch will be back. The West High Warriors had an impressive season of their own, grabbing a share of the Pioneer League title this year with their route of the Torrance Tartars in the last game of the regular season. The Tartars aren’t the only team that West routed this year, though. Highlight victories from the Warriors include a 22-0 shutout victory over Culver City in the first game of the regular season, a 48-8 shellacking of Inglewood to stay undefeated on the year, and a three-game winning streak over league opponents Centennial, South and Torrance that saw West outscore their rivals by a combined score of 139-47. While West had an excellent season, they too, fell victim to the Bay League blues. Losses to Redondo and Mira Costa in back-to-back weeks put a damper on the season while a loss to North High later in the season gave the Saxons the upper hand in the standings and playoff seeding. The Warriors were given a first round playoff matchup and rematch against none other than Redondo Beach. You can probably guess the outcome. West kept things much closer than initially expected, but ultimately it was Redondo who scored 14 fourth quarter points and pulled out the 35-28 win to end West’s (6-5, 4-1) successful season. Drake Peabody led the way this year under center for the Warriors while Michael Timmerman had a standout season at running back. Peabody will return to the team for what should be a successful senior season. Though the South High Spartans finished in fourth place in the Pioneer League standings and out of the playoff hunt, the team still had a very successful season in its own right. Joshua Waybright’s Spartans came out of the gates firing on all cylinders this season, putting up a combined 133 points in their first three games of the season, all three of which went for victories. South opened the year on a four game winning streak, ending with a loss to El Segundo, of the Bay League. South’s biggest win of the year came in the very last game of the regular season when they went up against the first place North See Up and Adam, page 10
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