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Still winless after all these games

Jeff Williams (No. 13) of La Verne broke away to make a 50-yard touchdown run in the third quarter. The play marked one of the most exciting moments in the game for the Leopards, bringing them, for a short time, back into the lead, 14-7, over the Poets. / photo by Adam Omernik
Jeff Williams (No. 13) of La Verne broke away to make a 50-yard touchdown run in the third quarter. The play marked one of the most exciting moments in the game for the Leopards, bringing them, for a short time, back into the lead, 14-7, over the Poets. / photo by Adam Omernik

by Jonathan Carrol
Assistant Editor

In a battle of winless teams trying to fight their way out of the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference cellar, Whittier College used a five-play, 93-yard drive with 2:35 remaining for the winning score to hand the Leopards their seventh consecutive loss, 21-14, Saturday afternoon at Ortmayer Stadium.

“All of our games in conference have been really close,” running back Jeff Williams said. “We just have a few bad plays that knock us out at the end.”

The winning drive ended with a 62-yard touchdown pass from Poet quarterback Jesse Serrato to receiver Alejandro Mendibles, that deflated the Leopards and their fans. Serrato had a game-high 318 yards on 22 for 33 passing and three touchdowns.

“Their quarterback (Serrato) is a very good player, and he played that way the entire game,” head coach Don Morel said. “Whittier has a great ability to make the big play.”

The Leopards (0-7, 0-5) had one last shot to even the score, but four consecutive incomplete passes from quarterback Brian Guerrero ended all hopes as the Poets took over on downs.

Despite the loss, the Leopards had an excellent game rushing the ball, as their front line provided huge holes for the tailbacks.

Williams led the charge with 157 yards on 23 carries and two touchdowns.

“We definitely got a lot of push up front, especially from Mike Myers and Jacob Round,” Williams said. “That is the most important right there, we moved the line of scrimmage very well.”

Also picking up valuable yardage for the Leopards was Ricky Sullivan, who finished with 18 carries for 64 yards and Guerrero with 57 yards, mainly on quarterback keepers.

Of the Leopards’ 354 total yards, 293 of them came on the ground.

“Our offensive line did a tremendous job up front,” Morel said. “As a team we decided to rotate our backs, and it worked out nicely for us.”

One of the major contributions to the Leopards’ defeat was their inability to stop the Poet passing game, which netted 318 of their 400 total yards.

“Whittier just made plays when they needed it most,” Morel said. “We also had some critical breakdowns on defense that hurt us.”

Jeff Magdaleno (No. 8) of La Verne misses a tackle on Poets quarterback Jesse Serrato (No. 10). La Verne continues its season winless after a loss to Whittier in its seventh game, Saturday. The game was close, but Alejandro Mendibles scored with 2:35 remaining in the fourth quarter after a 62-yard pass from Serrato to take the game out of reach for the Leopards, making the final score 21-14. / photo by Adam Omernik
Jeff Magdaleno (No. 8) of La Verne misses a tackle on Poets quarterback Jesse Serrato (No. 10). La Verne continues its season winless after a loss to Whittier in its seventh game, Saturday. The game was close, but Alejandro Mendibles scored with 2:35 remaining in the fourth quarter after a 62-yard pass from Serrato to take the game out of reach for the Leopards, making the final score 21-14. / photo by Adam Omernik

Leading the way receiving was Poet wideout David Martin, who caught 12 passes for 193 yards and two touchdowns.

For the Leopards, always dependable Mike Raffee hauled in three passes for 49 yards, his longest being a 34-yarder.

From the onset, the Leopards showed what type of team they really are as they used a 10-play, 75-yard opening drive, capping it off with Williams’ first touchdown from 2 yards out for the 7-0 lead.

The Leopards held the Poets scoreless the entire first half with strong team defense, led once again by Gabe Segovia who had a team-high of eight and a half tackles.

Contributing nicely was freshman Adrian Medrano and sophomore Roger Logan, who had six and five tackles, respectively.

Bouncing back from a horrible first half, the Poets wasted little time in the second as they scored 1:45 into the half with a 32-yard touchdown pass from Serrato to Martin, to even the score at 7-7.

The Leopards countered with Williams, dashing 50 yards to the end zone for his second score of the game, recapturing the lead at 14-7 midway through the third quarter.

Not to be outdone, the Poets responded with a marathon drive of their own, resulting in a 30-yard touchdown pass from Serrato to Martin to catch the Leopards at 14 with 1:48 left in the third quarter.

With the homecoming game against Chapman at 1 p.m. tomorrow at Ortmayer Stadium, the Leopards have two games remaining to break out of the winless column.

“We are ready for a win,” Williams said. “Last year we finished with two straight wins, and we are going to try and do the same thing.”

To finish the season last year, La Verne topped Chapman (29-21) in Orange and Occidental (24-22) at home.

Jonathan Corral
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