City College returned home and picked up its third consecutive blowout win against Compton by the score of 48-16 on a sunny afternoon at La Playa Stadium.
After a crushing 38 point home defeat at the hands of Ventura to start of the season, the Vaqueros stomped its next three opponents by 120 points combined.
“We’re feeling confident, not only me but the whole team,” said running back Emmanuel Nwosu (No. 21). “This three game win streak is really boosting our morale.”
The Vaquero offense and defense played with extreme confidence. The defense forced six turnovers and the offense put up over 40 points for its third straight game.
“We have some guys that made some big plays,” said head coach Craig Moropoulos. We’ve been able to run the ball and have an uptempo style of game.”
The game got off to a fast start as Donald Lambert (No. 7) scored the game’s first points on a 69 yard touchdown reception in the first minute of the game. To finish the first quarter up 21-0, Lucas Olgiati (No. 32) returned an interception 40 yards for a touchdown and then backup quarterback Joshua Evans (No. 8) scored on an 11 yard run.
Compton scored the only points of the second quarter to make the game 21-7 at halftime.
Donald Lambert got the second half started with his second touchdown grab of the game. Lambert leads the team in receptions, receiving yards, and touchdowns. Nwosu scored 30 seconds later after a Compton fumble.
“He runs hard, said Moropoulos on Nwosu. “He runs real hard. He is an outstanding athlete and a great kid.”
Nwosu gained 173 rush yards and a touchdown. He has 562 yards and three touchdowns through four games and ran for a career-high 199 in his last game.
“I pride myself in not getting tackled by the first guy. Yards after contact is what I do,” said Nwosu.
Despite all of the success the team has had recently, the team still knows they have work to do. A roster void of any upperclassman could prove to be challenging.
“The experience level of the team is not that high. We have some guys that are making inopportune mistakes,” said Moropoulos. “We need to work through it, make sure they understand them, fix them, and make sure they don’t happen again. It’s education at its best.”
The young team is looking to fix its mistakes and reach the full potential that they believe they have.
“This team can go way beyond what we’ve done so far,” said guard Jake Tourtillotte (No. 56). “We have some issues we need to fix but right now we are looking really good.”
Feeling great about the team at this point in the season, the Vaqueros feel like they can be the team to win the conference.
“Our goal is the conference championships,” said Nwosu. “Coach Moropoulos preaches it every day. So that’s what we are aiming for, nothing less.”
City College improves to 3-1 following the blowout while Compton falls to 0-4. The Vaqueros will travel to play at 6 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 30, against College of the Desert.
City College will return home to begin conference play at 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 14, against Allan Hancock.
