by Danny Craig
Sports Editor
With a little over a minute left in the third quarter and a 46-16 point spread on the scoreboard Saturday, salt was rubbed on the wounds of the University of La Verne football team by a clearly dominant Menlo College during the Oaks’ 56-21 victory.
Menlo quarterback Zamir Amin dropped back for a pass on the ULV 14-yard-line but was stopped by Leopards linebacker Chris Oliver who fully wrapped Amin’s legs to begin a textbook sack.
However, before Amin’s body hit the ground, No. 1 Division III quarterback saw receiver Russ Fukishima standing just 5 yards away. Amin tossed the ball to Fukishima who turned around and ran into the end zone to bring up 53-14 score as the game entered the fourth quarter.
In a game where such an act seemed typical for Menlo, the 13-yard toss was a minor contribution to Amin’s 399 yards passing from an offense whose season has given them national accolades.
“I think we played as well as we could,” said ULV football coach Don Morel. “I don’t think our team quit at any time, we were just outmatched.”
Despite the struggles and a field goal from the Oaks to make the score 56-14, the Leopards had the final highlight of the matchup with under a minute left in the game.
On a drive that started on their own 27-yard line, ULV quarterback Jeremy Mears completed a midfield pass to receiver Travis Lerma who brought the Leopards to the 5-yard line. Lerma carried the ball across the goal line on the following play for game’s final score. After the extra point, it was 56-21 and Menlo ran out the remaining 40 seconds left on the clock.
Oaks head coach Doug Cosbie said he thought the Leopards had an admirable performance.
“It’s not that La Verne’s defense is bad, we threw for 700 yards against Cal Lu and over 500 yards against two Division I schools. I think every week it’s kind of surprising that we can throw that much,” said Cosbie.
After allowing Menlo to put 23 points on the board in the first half, the playing field for both squads was leveled in the second quarter when the Leopards produced an offensive surge. With a little over eight minutes in the half, Mears connected with Leopards wide receiver James Evans for a 73-yard touchdown pass. After a completed two-point conversion, the score was 23-8.
On their next possession with 2:37 left in the half, another Mears to Evans connection in the right side of the end zone capped a three-play, 72-yard scoring drive. After a failed two-point conversion attempt, the score was 23-14 going into the half.
“We really got a little fire under us,” said Leopards team captain Manny Estrada of ULV’s second quarter.
Although daunted by the five Menlo scores that followed in the second half, Estrada said he was pleased with the team’s performance.
“We worked hard and we can only do certain things. We deal with what God gave us,” he said.
Estrada’s squad was limited in their capabilities with the Oaks offensive front. With 180 yards from rushing, in addition to Amin’s performance in the air, Menlo’s offense accumulated a total of 579 yards offensively to mismatch the Leopards total of 259.
With his squad carrying a 2-6 overall, 2-3 conference record, Morel said there will be a definite focus on tomorrow’s game against Whittier College (3-5, 3-1). Going into the game, the Poets are coming off of a 40-34 defeat from last Saturday’s bout against the University of Redlands.
“We have a good group of guys and I think we’re going to get ready to try and win that football game,” said Morel.
Noting that the Leopards two wins for the season came from their away games, Estrada feels confident going into tomorrow’s matchup.
“Seriously, we’re going to beat them. I guess there’s something about the white jerseys that makes us play harder,” he said jokingly.
Donning white jerseys, ULV begins play at Whittier tomorrow at 7 p.m.
