MARAUDER FOOTBALL HOPES TO MAKE IT TO BOWL GAME WITH VICTORY OVER PIERCE

Photo by Bill Sobalvarro

WOODLAND HILLS – The Marauder football team's bowl chances could be in jeopardy, however, without a victory against LA Pierce College on Saturday night, the Marauders won't even be in the discussion.

A disappointing loss last week to Allan Hancock College, 38-17, could have taken AVC out of any discussion, but a bowl game is not out of the realm of possibility.

"If we win we can be bowl eligible," AVC head coach Perry Jehlicka said. "You put yourself in the pool. Saturday's games will play a role, but we need some luck. (Last week) we didn't play a good game in any of the three phases of the game."

Still with impressive victories against East LA College and Santa Barbara City College, the Marauders are ranked No. 7 in the Southern California-American Division polls this week. East LA is No. 2 and Snata Barbara is No. 4.

After beginning conference play with victories on the road against Citrus College and Santa Barbara, AVC has stumbled in its two most recent games with losses to LA Valley College and Allan Hancock. The Marauders were outscored 76-30 in those two losses.

"I thought they (Allan Hancock) were playing as good of football as they have played all year. They controlled the game," Jehlicka said. "We were never really able to establish ourselves in the game and when that happens you have to credit the opponent. They controlled the pace of the game. They were able to shorten the clock and the game and we couldn't get into rhythm offensively."

AVC's defense has proven it can be solid. Santa Barbara is ranked No. 3 in the state in points per game (44) and the Marauders held them to only 14 points. The other 14 points came off an interception return for a touchdown and a fumble recovery for a touchdown. And against East LA, which averages 41 points per game (No. 8 in the state), the defense only gave up 18 points. The Huskies' other touchdown came following a fumble recovery for the score.

"We have to get back into our attack mode offensively and defensively," Jehlicka said.  "We have to play our style of football. We have to take care of ourselves. We can't have some of the mistakes we've made. If we play good clean football, we should be fine."

Since conference started Pierce has been outscored 223-26 in its four losses and the Brahmas only average 9.8 points per game, which ranks last in the state.

Since a 12-10 victory over LA Southwest College, Pierce's only victory of the season, the Brahmas have lost seven consecutive games. Pierce only averages 97 yards per game rushing and 89 yards passing, but still the Brahmas aren't a team that AVC can take lightly.

"Their record is not indicative of the types of players they have," Jehlicka said. "They have talent and are very athletic. They've got players who can run around the game. Just misfortune is that they've had this year. They can make things happen."

Pierce has played Moorpark College tough as well as Mt. San Jacinto, however, it has only scored eight offensive touchdowns this season. The Brahmas look to get the offense rolling with leading rusher Sterling Salguero.  Salguero has rushed for 539 yards this season.

But the Marauders defense looks to have a big day against Pierce's offense. With the lack of offense power that the Brahmas have, the defense looks to put a lot of pressure on the offense.

The Marauders should also have a huge day offensively as the Brahmas give up more than 330 yards per game and 40 points per game. Quarterback Blake Shepherd should be chomping at the bit.

Last week the sophomore surpassed the 5,000-yard mark for his career. No other Marauder quarterback in school history has passed for more than 4,000 yards.

Pierce allows an average of 182 rush yards per game, so Cole Starnes, Tre Coleman and Shepherd should have productive games. Starnes averages nearly six yards per carry.

"We had a good week of practice," Jehlicka said. "You're only guaranteed 10 opportunities to play this season and you can't blow the opportunities. This is an opportunity to showcase (to colleges and universities) what they've done all year."