Karina Rodriguez
Sports Editor
The Leopards started off their season with a loss against the Willamette Bearcats, 29-14, Saturday at Ortmayer Stadium. The loss included five fumbles and an interception.
New head coach Richard Sanchez found himself disappointed with the loss but believed the offense could do a better job in their next game.
“Well, obviously, the offense has to be productive in taking care of the football and keep the defense off the field,” Sanchez said.
With 6:50 left in the first quarter, junior quarterback Jordan Hernandez rushed 12 yards to give the Leopards their first touchdown of the season.
Willamette did not score a touchdown during the first quarter, which La Verne junior quarterback Ahmias Hart credits to the Leopards’ defensive line.
“Defense definitely held their own,” Hart said. “Just, the offense needs to get a little bit better – not fumbling the ball, making good reads, getting the ball into the playmakers hands.”
Hart also thinks the key to a potential victory against their upcoming game against Chapman is studying their methods of play.
“We’ll watch and really dissect them and know what we need to do come next Saturday,” Hart said.
During the second quarter, senior placekicker Nick Beswick-Seidl of Willamette successfully completed a 36-yard field goal to give the Bearcats their first three points of the game.
On second down and two yards to go, junior quarterback Brian Rudden was sacked by junior linebacker Javi Rodriguez of Willamette, resulting in a 17-yard loss and fumble.
Rodriguez recovered the fumble and returned it for a touchdown. The extra point by Beswick-Seidl put Willamette ahead for good, 10-6.
With the Leopards trailing, Rudden unsuccessfully made incomplete passes to junior wide receivers Jimmy Rumsey and Ronald Ropke in hopes for a touchdown.
“A lot of missed opportunities,” sophomore linebacker JonLuke Vega said. “They came out and played really hard. Just got to execute and make the most of it.”
Vega also thinks the linebackers, while needing to complete tackles, made the most out of an unfortunate circumstance.
“Some good things are, just aggressiveness, 11 people to the ball,” Vega said. “The bad thing is we gotta finish tackling.”
Another touchdown and successful attempt by Beswick-Seidl gave the Bearcats a 17-6 lead with 1:46 left in the second quarter.
Willamette increased their score by two points when a La Verne punt was blocked, leaving La Verne trailing, 19-6.
Beswick-Seidl then gave Willamette three more points through his 37-yard field goal to end the second quarter, 22-6.
Despite the discouraging scores, junior running back Arthur McCown believes there is room for improvement.
“I just need to work on keeping the ball high and tight, not putting the ball down, and keeping my head up while I am blocking,” McCown said.
Neither team scored in the third quarter, but in the fourth Willamette sophomore Austin Snodgrass rushed 90 yards for a touchdown, bringing the score to 29-6.
La Verne scored soon after, narrowing the gap to 29-14 with a 24-yard touchdown pass to Rumsey.
The Leopards are currently 0-1. They will face Chapman for their first SCIAC game at 7 p.m. in Orange.
Karina Rodriguez can be reached at karina.rodriguez3@laverne.edu.
Karina Rodriguez is a senior journalism major with a concentration in broadcast journalism, and editor-in-chief of the Campus Times. She has previously served as sports editor, social media editor, arts editor and a staff writer.
Joseph Nocero is a senior photography major at the University of La Verne and a staff photographer for the Campus Times and photography editor for La Verne Magazine. His work can also be found at Joseph Nocero Photography.
