It was a historic day for the SBCC football team on Saturday as running back Perry Martin tied a rushing record and the defense posted its first shutout in nearly 15 years in a 51-0 blowout of L.A. Southwest.
Martin, a freshman from Thousand Oaks, tied a school record with four touchdown runs at La Playa Stadium. Tyrone Harris ran for four TDs in a 2008 game and Jerry Hughes did it for the Vaqueros in 1969. Martin has a pair of four-TD games in his first three college outings and leads the state in scoring with 48 points.
Martin was the third-leading rusher (61 yards, 11 attempts) for the Vaqueros (2-1), who ran for a season-high 308 yards on 47 carries (6.6 average). He rushed for three TDs in the first quarter (3, 1 and 2 yards) as the Vaqueros jumped out to a 27-0 lead. They led 34-0 at intermission.
The Vaqueros are the No. 1 rushing team in the state, averaging 244.7 yards. They're No. 2 in state scoring, averaging 45.3 points a game.
Emmanuel Nwosu scored the game's first TD on a 9-yard run at the 11:03 mark. The Vaqueros took over on the Cougar 23 after a high snap on a punt led to an 8-yard loss. Demetrius Vinson paced the SBCC rushing attack with 98 yards on 12 attempts. Cedric Cooper averaged nearly 20 yards on four rushes out of the Wildcat formation with 79 yards and a TD.
Tony Anderson led the Vaquero defense with nine tackles, a blocked field goal and a second-quarter interception. Keonimana Kahooilihala thwarted the last Cougar drive by tipping a pass to himself for an interception at his own 20.
"It was great to get a shutout after the troubles our defense had in the first few weeks," said Anderson, a 6-4 freshman defensive back from Paris, France. "It was a great team win. This is a team game and you need to play together."
The Vaqueros outgained the Cougars (0-3) by 300 yards, 416 to 116, and held them to 70 rushing yards. It was the first shutout since Oct. 20, 2001 when Santa Barbara blanked L.A. Pierce 41-0. Defensive lineman Luigi Dorzin had six tackles, including three for loss, and Thomas Lash and Dallas Martin also recorded a half-dozen tackles.
Elijah Cunningham took the second-half kickoff at his own 12 and sprinted untouched for an 88-yard TD. That boosted the lead to 41-0 and lifted Cunningham into No. 7 on the state kick return chart with a 37.3-yard average. He led the state in kick returns last year with a 40.8 average and was named All-American.
"It's so smooth when Elijah runs, you don't realize how fast he's going," said coach Craig Moropoulos. "Once he got to a certain point, they weren't going to catch him."
Nakota Shepard-Creer blocked a sec
ond-quarter punt and Anderson blocked a 30-yard field goal try in the third quarter. The Vaqueros have blocked six kicks in three games.
The Vaqueros drove 55 yards in eight plays for their final touchdown, a 1-yard run by Perry that made it 48-0 with 1:24 to go in the third quarter. The big play on the drive was a 23-yard pass from Joshua Lindman to Jason-Matthew Sharsh. Sharsh led the receivers with six catches for 78 yards.
Patrick Nasiatka (Na-shot-ka) made all six PATs and completed the scoring with a 37-yard field goal midway through the final period. He's No. 2 in the state in kick scoring with 26 points (17-17 PATs, 3-6 FGs).
"We challenged our guys during the week and said, 'Hey just relax, go make plays and don't hold back or be afraid to fail,' " said Moropoulos. "The guys responded and I'm proud of them.
"Perry Martin is doing a great job and the whole running back corps is doing great things. It all starts with our offensive line. The O-line is better than any line I've had to this point."
Eleven runners combined for 308 rush yards, the Vaqueros' highest total since a 327-yard effort against West L.A. last year.
The Vaqueros have rushed for 582 yards the last two weeks running behind center Bilal Sharmoug, guards Wyatt Gardner and Ramon Coral, tackles Isaac McClain and Aaron Jackobs and tight end Jacob Ortale.
The Vaqueros will travel to El Camino-Compton Center on Saturday for a 6 p.m. contest.
