JAG'S FALL TO MESA COLLEGE 14-17 IN NEIGHBORHOOD SHOWDOWN.

The JAG'S traveled crosstown to Mesa College for a neighborhood rivalry game this past Saturday. The game was a microcosim of our 2007 season. The JAG defense came to play forcing Mesa to punt 12 times and serving up EIGHT, 3 and Outs (3 plays and a punt).

Much of the JAG'S success on the night had an EAST COUNTY flair to it. Three of our four recognized Players of the Week are graduates of HELIX HS... Offensive Player KENSLOW SMITH, Defensive Player DERRICK PERRAULT and Big Stick DESMOND JACKSON. Our Punter/FG kicker MARCUS FLORES is from GROSSMONT HS and two key defensive players on the day were TAELOR WORRELL, EL CAPITAN HS and JIMMY VIDANO from STEELE CANYON HS. WORRELL and VIDANO had their best games of the season. Sophomore receiver DEVIAN CARTER from MT. MIGUEL HS caught the game tying touchdown on a fade route with under 2 minutes to play. How about that East County!

Freshman defensive tackle WAYMAN CASEY (University of Tulsa) stepped up with 5 solo tackles and excellent pressure up the middle on the QB. Fellow freshman DERRICK PERRAULT (Helix HS) was a force at the line of scrimmage pressuring both the run and passing game.

The flow of the game began with the JAG'S pushing the Mesa defense down the field and driving the ball through the runing game. KENSLOW SMITH (Helix HS) was a force in both the running and passing game running both the Draw and Inside Zone play with his own physical style.

After a pair of missed FG's (by two different kickers) freshman kicker MARCUS FLORES (Grossmont HS) stepped up and hit two field goals, the longest of which was a 47 yarder. FLORES also dominated the punt game punting 6 times with ZERO net returns.

Other players who stepped up were freshmen center JOSE BAEZ, (Eastlake HS), freshman linebacker SEAN SHAW, (Otay Ranch HS), freshman TE ROBERT ARMSTRONG (Castle Park HS) and freshman long snapper MARC VILLAFLOR (Bonita Vista HS)

It has been a frustrating season for all of us... with 3 weeks to go and a 1-6. In 4 of the 6 losses we were ahead in the game with an opportunity to win. The ball (like the first missed field goal that hit the upright and bounced back) has bounced in strange ways in 2007. But in football, like life you make your own breaks. Our players and coaches are excited for the next three weeks and the opportunity to finish with three wins in a row.

GO JAG'S