Football ends season with change

The Pierce College football team broke even this season with a final record of five wins and five losses.

Although their record may initially seem to indicate a season that could best be described as decent, going 5-5 in the 2007 season marked a drastic improvement from the team’s previous performances.

The wins came against East LA College (36-26), Golden West College (16-14), Santa Monica College (43-42), Compton College (24-20) and cross-town rivals LA Valley College (37-17).

Losses against Ventura College (38-16), Glendale College (34-14), West LA College (31-25), Citrus College (34+14) and Moorpark College (52-32).

“Last year, the team was 0-9,” said head coach Efrain Martinez.

“The year before that, the team was 0-10. (In 2004), the team went 4-6. I think it was 2-8 before that, and then 0-10, 0-10, 0-10.”

In fact, “Pierce has ranked dead last as far as records over the last six years,” he said.

22-year-old safety Christian Sandoval had mixed feelings about the season.

“From a player’s perspective, I’m happy with the improvement this season, but I’m not really satisfied. You want to go to playoffs, to a bowl game. That’s the goal,” he said. Martinez said that part of the turnaround this season was due to the changes they made to their recruiting methods.

“In the past, Pierce has gotten away from recruiting … kids in the local community,” he said, “and has gone to recruiting guys from out of state.

“Those kids had problems, and they brought those problems over to Pierce. This year, we only have eight out-of-state kids, which creates less of a headache, because you don’t have to worry as much … about whether they’re home, are they staying out of trouble, their housing situation, all those little things,” Martinez said.

“For Pierce, it was a good season. It was there best record in the past 14 years,” said offensive line coach Dave Ochoa, who is also the team’s equipment manager. “It’s really a testament to the kids and their character.”

The character of new recruits was a major focus in this year’s recruitment process.

“Discipline was a really big thing,” Martinez said. “In the past, there’s been a lot of noise with the sheriff’s (department), with the faculty … you know, the kids have been getting into trouble.

“We tried to bring in character guys, guys who aren’t going to cause us those problems, as opposed to talented guys that will cause problems.”

Players and coaches alike agreed that much of the team’s success could be attributed to a heightened level of discipline.

“I think what made the difference was the coaches staying on top of us, discipline,” said Sandoval.

“I think discipline was enforced this season,” said defensive end Jeremiah Brown, a 21-year-old sophomore. “The players had better attitudes. It was more like a family than a team.”

Also pivotal to the team’s success this season was the leadership of the team and the players’ willingness to cooperate with leaders.

“Last year, players didn’t respect the leaders,” said Sandoval. “This year, when the leaders called a team meeting, players came and listened to what they had to say.”

Beyond character and discipline improvements, the 5-5 season allowed the team to loosen up and enjoy the game a little more.

“It was really a lot of fun. Knowing the history, we put together the best season in 14 years,” said quarterback Alex Pettee, 22, a first-year player who is now looking to transfer to a four-year school.

“The whole group of guys got along really well. That camaraderie made the difference,” Pettee added.

On the topic of favorite games this season, the decision seems to be unanimous.

“The last game, against LA Valley,” said Brown. “We’ve always had a rivalry. They beat us last year, but we should have had it. They have an undisciplined attitude.”

“LA Valley is our cross-town rival. There were a lot of people in the stands,” said Ochoa.

“With Valley, there was this energy. There was a lot of pregame tension. Plus, there’s the bell,” Sandoval said.

The Victory Bell is a large bell that passes back and forth between LA Valley and Pierce colleges. Each season when the two football teams play against each other, they wheel the huge bell out onto the sideline. Whichever team wins the game gets to keep the bell until the next time the teams play.

“At the beginning, there was a lot of talk back and forth between teams, stuff like, ‘We’re going to take the Victory Bell,'” Pettee said. “But in the end, we took the bell and rang it. It was a great way to end the season.”

Now that the season is over, the emphasis of the players and the coaching staff is on the “sophomore list,” which consists of those players who are eligible for transfer. Game footage, transcripts and introduction letters for the players are compiled and sent off to four-year schools in efforts to obtain scholarships for the players.

“For us, as coaches, this is where our job really begins – trying to get the kids placed, trying to get them to the next level,” Martinez said.

The coaches do whatever they can to help the players achieve those goals, even making efforts to go above and beyond in the marketing of game footage.

“We send out DVDs (of game footage) instead of VHS for our kids. Most local schools still use VHS,” said Martinez.

Although it is called the sophomore list, five freshmen are on the list this year, including Pettee. “Not many schools give the kids that chance,” Martinez said.

“We’re working really hard to get those sophomores and eligible freshmen out to four-years,” said Ochoa. Although no definite plans have been made yet, an awards ceremony for the 2007 team is in the works, and the coaches hope to announce the date for the event sometime this week.

The focus for next year is expected to remain on the new recruiting methods. “Hard local recruiting will be our focus. We have to recruit against Valley, Moorpark, Glendale, even (College of the Canyons),” Martinez said.

“We’re going to continue recruiting local kids and we hope to continue the turnaround,” Ochoa said.

“This is a great start to the future,” said Sandoval. “The 2007 team tried to set the bar higher. Hopefully, it helps the coaches recruiting-wise. All I know is that we played our hearts out.”