The Vaqueros defeated the L.A. Southwest Cougars in the Sat. Oct. 5, game 44-7 to stay at an undefeated 5-0, 2-0 conference record.
La Playa Stadium was buzzing with fans to see the undefeated Vaqueros take another game in the American Pacific Conference season.
However, in the fourth quarter, the stadium came to a jarring halt as the Vaqueros defense took down a Cougar player.
Linebacker Aaron Carr (No. 35) tackled Aaron Gaines (No. 23) in the fourth quarter. Gaines laid facedown on the field, completely still, as the whistle blew at the end of the play.
The ambulance on standby at the game was called over and shortly after, another ambulance came on the field to transport Gaines to Cottage Hospital. The ordeal put the game on hold for about 10 minutes.
“It’s tough. It doesn’t matter whose team it’s on,” said Don Willis, offensive line coach. “Whenever you have an injury like that it’s never a good thing. Hopefully he’s ok.”
“But, it’s football and those things happen. Sometimes they’re unfortunate but hopefully we can move forward from it and keep playing hard.”
As the paramedics loaded Gaines into the ambulance on a stretcher, he lifted his fist in the air to show he was ok.
“I sent a prayer up for him after I did that,” said Carr. “But it’s something that you’ve gotta move on from.”
The Vaqueros put away three touchdowns in the first half leaving the Cougars at a loss of 21-0. Jacob Arnell (No. 3) picked up two touchdowns in the first quarter with passes from freshman quarterback Joshua Martin (No. 10). Martin took the third touchdown to the end zone in the second quarter with 3:41 left.
The team played without starting quarterback, Jarred Evans (No. 8), who is currently on suspension. Evans was recently voted Offensive Player of the Week in the American Pacific Conference two weeks in a row.
In Evans place, Martin led the Vaqueros in his first starting game with 198 passing yards and 66 rushing yards.
“It was a big opportunity. I’m happy,” said Martin. “I’m just gonna keep playing. You gotta go out there and do your thing.”
The Vaqueros are doing their thing with Morgan Nevin (No. 33) leading the defense. Throughout the game the defensive line swarmed the Cougars to keep them to one touchdown in the third quarter.
“We have to keep the ball rolling and keep a zero at the end of our record,” said Nevin. “It’s all about the next game coming up. Every week we say ‘we’re not going 5-0, we’re going 1-0.’ Just focus on the game ahead.”
The second half brought more touchdowns as the Vaqueros tight end Andrew Forse (No. 84) caught an eight yard pass from Martin to hike the score up to 26-0 in the third quarter.
Marcus Hoerberg (No. 99) kicked in a field goal a few minutes later and brought the score to 30-0.
The Vaqueros offense kept the ball rolling as running back Mike Peterson (No. 28) brought in a 27-yard touchdown pass from Martin, ten seconds into the fourth quarter, bringing the score to 36-7. Hoerberg’s field goal was good and the Vaqueros were brought to 37-7.
Terrance Brown (No. 5) put up the last touchdown of the game when Martin tossed a one yard pass to Brown with eight minutes left to bring the score to its resting place of 44-7.
“Josh stepped up as quarterback today,” said Arnell. “He played really good and he needs to keep playing like that.”
The Vaqueros start a Bye week with the next game set for Oct. 19 against Antelope Valley in Lancaster. They will stay on the road as they face L.A. Pierce Oct. 26 at Woodland Hills.
The next home game is set for 1 p.m. Nov. 2 against Santa Monica at La Playa Stadium.
