After last week’s display, Pierce College football has many people around the community wondering who these players are. After a promising start and a fledgling four weeks, it was almost as if the team had been cast into soil…until last week.
It looked as if spring had come full circle for Pierce, they played Los Angeles Southwest College and smacked them down. The team looked like the same team of last year that won the American Bowl Championship. The defensive line was vicious and sturdy and the quarterback play looked as if former captain Nick Arbuckle had shown up in the flesh. Pierce QB’s Edrees Ahmadi and Sean Smith showed leadership and the quality that should have been shown from the beginning of the season.
Even with the four game losing streak that seemingly snatched the pride of Pierce’s team, Brahmas could not dwell on the past. As poorly as they played, there is still a lot of football left before the season ends. Starting with Santa Barbara City College, a team in years past the Brahmas have dominated now stand on top of the American Pacific conference. As if playing for the season isn’t enough, the once laughable Vaquero team has now shown the ability to stand on its own and provides the perfect challenge for a Pierce squad that is seething in it’s own confidence.
The practices this week have the Brahmas chomping at the bit and players like Wendell O’Brien, Earl Hargrove and most of all the supposed “manifest destiny” Ahmadi are looking to prove that they are indeed legitimate. It’s no longer about just playing a game for these players, it’s about showcasing their talent and salvaging a season who by all accounts left many around the community college football world wondering if the Brahmas were going to win another game this season.
After a 68-point outburst that was the balance of defensive pressure and offensive effort, the Brahmas are now starting to feel more confident about themselves again even at 2-4. Ahmadi now has thrown more touchdowns than interceptions and the running game, led by Shakeem Wharton and Jhanard Dorsett, opened things up and left the Cougars in a daze.
L.A. Southwest College is by no means a measuring stick on how successful this team is or can be, but in order to start playing well it has to start with confidence. A confidence that after four long weeks, they finally found. With only four games left, now it’s up to Pierce to finish off strong and who knows what could happen after that. If they can take care of business and hold its own these next four weeks, then the rest is all in the hands of the teams around them. Down the stretch crazier things have happened.
If Edrees Ahmadi can play with the pure confidence and presence like he did against L.A. Southwest, then the Brahmas could find themselves climbing a ladder to another championship.
