City College lost the battle of the Vaqueros as the last home football game of the season came to a close against Glendale Community College, 17-24, on Saturday night.
La Playa Stadium was buzzing with fans as City College honored its veterans for the holiday weekend. The American flag wasn’t the only flag flying during the game as the competition got tense and penalties started stacking up.
Morgan Nevin (No. 33) leads the state in tackles with 126, averaging 15.8 per game. With Saturday’s game being his last home game, emotions flared and he ended up getting kicked out of the game for unsportsmanlike conduct and suspended for the rest of the season.
Saying that it was “one of the dirtiest games” he’s played, Nevin and the team knows they can’t count on the referees to make the calls.
“Every play there was something going on,” he said. “Either a holding or block in the back or hitting after the whistle, hands in the face.”
Nevin played his last game with the Vaqueros but still ended up with 13 tackles, leading the game.
“You feel helpless almost,” said Nevin. “Usually there is something you can do but situations like that, when you’re down on the goal line and stuffs going everywhere, penalty flags are flying, it just turns into madness out there.”
The first quarter brought in a devastating three sacks for quarterback Josh Martin (No. 10) who reinjured his ankle during the game. Martin has been playing on a sprained ankle for the past three games.
The Vaquero offense was in rough shape with first string quarterback, Jarred Evans, out for the season with a fractured jaw, Martin playing on a sprained ankle and third string quarterback, Bruce Shipley, out with a viral infection.
Glendale scored the first touchdown of the game in the second quarter but City College retaliated with a safety by Brandon Nicastro (No. 58) bringing the score to 7-2.
It looked like the Vaqueros had it together when Martin threw a 49-yard pass to Giovanni Sanders (No. 85) for a touchdown to put City College ahead of Glendale 10-7 heading into halftime.
Hopes were high in the stands going into the second half of the game but Glendale came back quick with a 25-yard field goal tying the score 10-10.
Jacob Arnell (No. 3) answered with a lucky touchdown catch of a 52-yard pass from Martin. City College had the lead 17-10.
However, it didn’t take long for Glendale to regain its stance. The Vaqueros fumbled the ball and turned it over to Glendale on the 36-yard line.
The fourth quarter brought in two touchdowns for Glendale. One was a one-yard run, tying the game again at 17-17. With Nevin out, the Vaquero defense struggled to keep it together and Glendale made a 20-yard interception return for the final score of 17-24.
“The one that really hurt us was the penalty after the PAT [point after touchdown],” said head coach Craig Moropoulos. “That was a momentum change right there.”
“The hardest thing in the game of football is not to hit back,” said Moropoulos. “They were doing a lot of cheap stuff but you know what, they always catch the one that hits back.”
With the last game of the season coming up, the team is hoping to finish the season with a win and break the three game losing streak.
“Even being down by two touchdowns, I feel like our team gave 100%,” said Evans. “That just comes with our hearts playing football. Our team isn’t a bunch of quitters. We were down and we kept fighting.”
The Vaqueros will play their last game against West L.A. at 1 p.m. Nov. 16 in Culver City.
