MARAUDER FOOTBALL LOOKS TO PUT SOLID GAME TOGETHER

Photo by Bruce Jacobsen

LANCASTER - Marauder quarterback Blake Shepherd hasn't yet shown his form of last season when he passed for nearly 3,000 yards, but he did help his team to a victory against San Diego Mesa last week.

Shepherd has only completed 44% of his passes this season and only tossed two touchdowns, yet he is still on pace to break the all-time record for passing yards in a career.

"I just have to be smarter with the ball and control the offense," Shepherd said. "I'm not worried about the record. I think we're more balanced this season with running the ball. Last season we threw the ball a whole lot more. East L.A. is definitely going to be a good opponent. We just to play within ourselves. If we play assignment football, we'll play as one unit and play a complete game."

In week one against College of the Canyons, the offense and defense struggled, allowing 11 sacks, however, only a week later the Marauders (1-1) had 13 sacks of their own, a school record, in a 34-27 victory against the Olympians.

Now AVC hopes to put up big numbers while holding the Huskies (1-1) down. East L.A. is riding high coming off an impressive 38-19 victory against Allan Hancock College in the Huskies home opener. AVC holds a 7-4 all-time edge against East L.A., with the two last meeting in 2011 when the Huskies won a shoot out, 35-28.

Statistically the two teams are mirror images of each other. AVC averages 308 yards per game while the Huskies average 302. The Marauders are giving up an average of 334 yards per game while their opponent is giving up an average of 320.

The numbers are strikingly similar as AVC averages 104 yards rushing and 205 passing, while East L.A. averages 123 and 197 yards respectively, which shows the balance of both teams. Finally the Marauders are averaging 24 points per game to the Huskies 21.