Karina Gonzalez
The Pierce College football team couldn’t have started the 2007 season in a better scenario. On Saturday Sept. 8th, they won their second consecutive game of the season, 16-14, against the Golden West Rustlers.
It was the home opening game of the season, and after last week’s win against the East L.A. Huskies with a score of 36-26, the Brahmas did not want to disappoint.
Even so, things became somewhat complicated for the team, especially during the first half.
Golden West (1-1) showed its offensive strength and capitalized on it, scoring both of their touchdowns in the first half of the game. The Brahmas had plenty of chances to create plays, especially during the second quarter, but they struggled to make the difference. By the end of the first half, the Brahmas were trailing 3-14.
That all changed in the beginning of the third quarter, when freshman wide receiver Monroe Ross made a key interception that took him all the way to the 20-yard line of their opponent’s field.
Then, in the next play, slot receiver Michael Cooper made a run to the end zone to score Pierce’s first touchdown. During the early minutes of the fourth quarter, it would once again be Cooper scoring after receiving a perfect pass from quarterback Alex Pette.
“It was a great team effort from all of us,” said the freshman quarterback. “I think our defense definitely stepped it up for us tonight and overall it was a great win.”
For the remainder of the game, the Brahmas continued to build on their momentum by shutting out the Rustlers offense, as well as converting a field goal by kicker Brad Borreson, which was ultimately the game winner.
“It was a nail-biting game ’til the very end,” said head coach Efrain Martinez. “I thought we made it closer than what it should have been, but this is a good, sound and disciplined team and those are the type of teams that can give any opponent a tough time.”
In just two games, this new group of players has already improved the Brahmas Football record by 200 percent from last season, when the team finished the season with a poor record of 1-9. It seems like these two victories are only the beginning of good things to come for the Brahmas this season.
“We’re trying to change the attitude here, starting with discipline, structure and everything else,” Martinez said, this being his first year as head coach for the Brahmas.”We want to get to the point where we play well throughout all four quarters. We’re not there yet, but we gotta work towards that.”
The Brahmas (2-0) will try to continue this winning streak when they play at Ventura College this Saturday at 7 pm.