MATCHUP: San Diego Mesa College (1-1) vs. L.A. Pierce College (1-1)
WHERE: L.A. Pierce College (Woodland Hills, CA)
TIME: 6:00 p.m
WEATHER: 84 degrees
The Olympians provided fans with a wildly entertaining game on Saturday, Sept 8, by beating #14 ranked Golden West College 27 – 21, evening Mesa's overall record to (1-1).
The Olympians are back on the road this weekend to play against L.A. Pierce College. The LA Pierce Brahmas are (1-1) and coming off a 16-12 victory against West Los Angeles College. Although the Olympians defeated L.A. Pierce 31-13 in 2017, the Brahmas have a new coaching staff led by Carlos Woods. Woods has many years of NFL experience having previously served as an assistant coach for the Indianapolis Colts and Cincinnati Bengals.
"We don't know much about them this year except from what we've seen on film," explains Mesa head coach Gary Watkins. "They are athletic, they play hard, and their coaching staff puts them in great position to win. We have to be prepared in all aspects of the game in order to play well against this strongly coached team."
After a disappointing 27 – 10 loss to Southwestern College in the season opener, the Mesa College coaching staff had one word for the team; 'refocus.' The team responded well against Golden West College. Now with a victory notched under their belts, the message this week has been; 'execute.'
"Execution is a word we use all throughout practice. Although we cleaned up some of our mistakes from the previous two games, we still have a lot of work to do," states Watkins. "There is no such thing as a perfect game, but our goal will always be to chase it. We challenge our players every day in practice not just to focus but to also be engaged. We do this at practice every day so when its game time, it's all muscle memory and execution is a habit."
NOTABLE PERFORMANCES:
• Jake Dunninway (St. Mary's HS) completed 21 of his 39 passes for 224 yards and 3 touchdowns.
• Dom McManus (Ramona, HS) had 8 catches for 95 yards and 3 touchdowns.
• Devin Sanders (Mira Mesa HS) had 12 tackles, 3 sacks, and 6 tackles for loss.
• Hugh Anthony (Mar Vista HS) had 11 tackles, 5 sacks, and 1 interception and was named Southern California Football Association Player of the Week.