Page 6 December 4, 2014 TORRANCE TRIBUNE Bruins Lose Their Roar By Adam Serrao All they had to do was win. After a remarkable rivalry week victory over their hated enemies from the University of Southern California, the UCLA Bruins had themselves in prime positioning to make a run at the Pac-12 championship and a surprise entry into this year’s four-team College Football Playoff. With one win against Stanford last Friday night at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Jim Mora would have given his team a golden opportunity to be back in the national spotlight. Maybe it was the short week, playing on a Friday night instead of a Saturday. Maybe the team was simply out of energy after such an intense, “The Brett Hundley era has now come to a close. Although there are more games left to be played in this college football season, the end has still found a way to creep itself forward.” emotional win over USC. Whatever it was, the Bruins simply didn’t come out to play and with a 31-10 loss to the Cardinal, blew their season away. Jim Mora and the formerly No. 8 UCLA Bruins have been left seeing red. Not the red of the USC Trojans, but an angry red; or a Cardinal red some might say, after losing to Stanford yet again for what has now become the seventh consecutive time. The Cardinal were, after all, playing for fun. With nothing at all to lose after going 6-5 on the season and 3-4 in the Pac-12 leading up to this game, starting quarterback Kevin Hogan led the Cardinals on to the Rose Bowl field with the sole intention of enjoying their afternoon while tossing around the pigskin for a bit. Well, Hogan went 16-for-19 on the night for 234 yards and two touchdowns en-route to a 21-point victory. Enjoyment achieved. “We knew this meant a lot to them,” Hogan said. “We wanted to come out and get a win for our seniors, for our team. We haven’t lost to them since we’ve been here and we wanted to keep that streak going.” The streak is alive and well, Kevin, and while your seniors joy and delight at their win, UCLA’s are left to wallow in their own sorrow of losing to Stanford yet again. While Hogan had what seemed to be an effortless night, Brett Hundley seemed to struggle all night long. In what was likely the quarterback’s last home game of his somewhat illustrious college career, he totaled only 146 passing yards from scrimmage before injuring his hand late in the game, forcing him to watch from the sidelines as the woeful night came to a close. “We had higher expectations than that,” Hundley stated bluntly. “To put a The Jewelry Source 337 Main St. El Segundo. 310-322-7110 www.jewelrysourceUSA.com performance together like that, it’s shocking.” If that’s how Hundley feels, imagine how the fans who showed up at the Rose Bowl with playoff aspirations on their minds felt. What was shocking was Hundley’s third-worst passing game of his 39-game college career. What was shocking was the Bruins’ fourth straight loss to Stanford in just the last three years. Not all of the blame can be put on Hundley’s shoulders or even on his teammates’, at that. After blowing out their rivals from USC less than a week earlier, the Bruins lacked the motivation and charisma that they were beaming with against the Trojans in every capacity. Taking into account a football team on a whole, it is the head coach’s job to instill that confidence, passion, and will to defeat your opponent. Jim Mora simply didn’t fit that bill and failed at preparing his team to take the field. “We have to figure out a way to close the gap,” Mora said. “I thought we had closed the gap, but we still have work to do.” The word “we” should be replaced with the word “I” in those sentences. As head coach of the Bruins, it is Mora’s job to make sure that his team comes out ready to play and gets the victory, something that clearly they weren’t prepared to do and failed to accomplish. Maybe Mora’s eyes are too transfixed on getting back into the NFL at this point to help his team win at home in a game that was quite possibly their biggest of the season. The Bruins now have three losses on the season. All three of those losses have come at home in the confines of the Rose Bowl. The Brett Hundley era has now come to a close. Although there are more games left to be played in this college football season, the end has still found a way to creep itself forward. Now UCLA fans will most likely have to begin to get used to rooting for their quarterback as he plays on Sunday’s instead of Saturday’s and in a different uniform at that. For all we know, it may be the end of an era for Jim Mora too. The head coach has constantly stated that he does not wish to make a return to the NFL, but as usual, the rumors will swirl this offseason. The UCLA Bruins will take on a much different look next year. After failing to win the Pac-12 championship game once again this year and losing in their biggest game of the season, maybe a fresh start is what the Bruins and all of their fans might need. • ©2007 ‘The Top 100 Worst Christmas Gifts Ever’ Warriors’ Wins Come to a Screeching Halt By Adam Serrao Just like that, it all came to an end. The West High Warriors have been on a winning streak since the 2014 football season began. The Warriors beat every team in their division and a few from their previous division, the Bay League. One team from the Bay League they just couldn’t beat, however, was the Palos Verdes Sea Kings, and it cost them their season. Behind a huge first quarter, Palos Verdes jumped out to an early lead on West High and the Sea Kings simply never looked back. The Warriors’ old foes from atop the hill in Palos Verdes ended West High’s winning streak last Friday night at South High in Torrance, putting an end to the Warriors season with a 28-16 win over West in this year’s CIF Southern Section Western Division semifinals. The first quarter of the game was by far the most entertaining for fans of both teams last week in the brisk 60-degree weather surrounding South High. Unfortunately for the Warriors, Palos Verdes was the team to bring more excitement. On just their second play of the game, the Sea Kings made it known that they were here to play and to win. Starting quarterback Steven Delcarson took the snap from center and wiggled his way out of a jam. It wasn’t long before Delcarson saw daylight as he turned what could have been a sack for the West High defense into a 64-yard touchdown run to put his team up 7-0 early on against the Warriors. It didn’t stop there though, as things went from bad to worse for head coach Greg Holt and West High. On their second possession of the game, it took just four plays for the Sea Kings to score again and just like that, the Warriors fell behind 14-0. “Two bad football plays and we were in a hole,” coach Holt stated. That hole continued to get bigger. After another West High punt, the Sea Kings took over possession of the ball on their own 20 yard line. Needing 80 yards for a touchdown, it certainly looked as if West High’s defense had enough in them to get at least one stop. That was until Delcarson stepped back, bombed the ball down the field and connect with receiver Lance Brown on what was an 80-yard play for a touchdown. Now, the Warriors were down 21-0 in just the first quarter of a game with all of the makings of a blowout on hand. Some solace came for Holt, West High, and their fans when with under a minute to go in the first quarter, Trevor Mallett reared back and ripped a 75-yard touchdown pass to his receiver Jackson Farrentinos. With that the Warriors were able to cut into Palos Verdes’ lead at 21-7. West added another field goal before the half to trail 21-10, but there was certainly more bad news to come for the Warriors. Right when Holt and the Warriors thought that they might be able to get back into the game with a fourth-and-18 facing the Sea Kings in West High territory, Palos Verdes came up with a trick play to seal the game’s fate. A fake punt went 31 yards for a first down to bring the ball to the West two-yard line. From there, Delcarson would do the rest as he ran it in for a touchdown, recapturing all of the momentum in the game and drowning the warriors in a score of 28-10 with about 10 minutes to go in the fourth quarter. “We thought they might fake a punt in that situation,” Holt said. “We had him wrapped up but he got out of it. That play kind of sealed our fate.” The Warriors would get another touchdown midway through the fourth quarter, but it was too little too late as Palos Verdes held West to their lowest point output all year long with a final of 28-16. The Sea Kings have now beaten the Warriors six straight times including back in 2012 when they faced off in the CIF championship game as members of the Bay League, meeting in the Northern Division final. Delcarson was the star of the night in this one, going 8 of 15 for 169 yards and a touchdown throwing the ball and taking 17 carries for 88 yards and two touchdowns on the ground. “Delcarson’s leadership tonight was unbelievable,” PV coach Guy Gardner said of his quarterback. For West, Mallett finished 24 of 47 through the air for 250 yards and two touchdowns. West’s running game was compromised because of an injury sustained to Brett Ojiyi’s shoulder, limiting the star running back to seven carries for 29 yards. West only gained 86 yards on the ground in his stead. The Warriors (12-1, 5-0) and coach Holt will now focus their attention on next season. The CIF Championship wasn’t in the cards for the team this year, although they got close, but you certainly won’t hear the team complain about their first year in the Pioneer League. An undefeated season is still quite the accomplishment. The Warriors simply met their kryptonite in a Palos Verdes team that they just can’t seem to beat. The football season is now over around the city of Torrance, but West High can hold their heads high knowing that out of their three rival teams from around the city, they were the most successful this year. • • Pediatrics • Neck & back pain • Post-surgical rehab • Geriatric strength & balance • Cancer rehabilitation & lymphedema • Sports injuries – ankle sprains – tennis elbow – rotator cuff – plantar fascilitis – knee pain No doctor’s prescription required Preferred provider for Aetna, Blue Cross, Blue Shield, Cigna, Medicare, UnitedHealthcare & many others TAG Physical Therapy 111 Penn Street, El Segundo 310-426-9570 www.tagpt.com OPEN Monday – Friday 8 AM – 7:30 PM Saturday 8 AM – 12 PM
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