By Dan Gudino
Facing the No. 1 offense in the state, the football team erupted for a school record 70-26 win on Saturday at West Los Angeles College.
The previous school record for most points in a game was in 1950 against Los Angeles Valley College, 61-19.
It also marked a school record for the largest margin of victory, winning by 44 points.
During its week off, East Los Angeles College slipped to second in the American Metro Conference and West L.A moved up to first.
Last week, West L.A. took on a winless Los Angeles Southwest College (0-8) team and showed no mercy, winning 73-26
West L.A., known for its potent passing attack and its high scoring on poor teams, got a taste of its own medicine.
Rumors circulated during the week about West L.A. players saying they didn’t fear or take ELAC seriously.
“We weren’t afraid. We knew all about their passing attack that’s so good, but we knew their quarterback (Jorge Reyna) didn’t take us seriously. So, we showed them some,” ELAC sophomore safety Anthony Figueroa said.
The game got personal after ELAC was in control going into the half 42-7. ELAC sophomore offensive lineman Arnie Robles was ejected in the third quarter after he was caught excessively defending himself against a West L.A. player’s banter.
The back-and-forth exchange continued throughout the game. On two other occasions officials had to separate players from each other from pushing and shoving each as the trash talking continued.
An inspired ELAC defense continued to win in the trenches, hitting the West L.A. quarterback every chance it had.
“This was not even as good as it gets. This was a total team effort and we can still improve, no doubt about it,” ELAC sophomore cornerback Cinwon Whitehead said.
The Huskies came up with seven sacks, one interception and caused five fumbles, recovering one.
“Our coaches told us about their offense. We just shut it off in our minds and played our game. Doesn’t matter who we play. The 70 points doesn’t mean much, because we still think we can get better. We had mistakes. It wasn’t perfect. Our offense needs more of our help. When we (the defense) put them in good situations, they take care of business,” ELAC linebacker Elijah Quarles said.
The ELAC offense finishing with 167 yards on the ground as it used six different carriers on a running-back-by-committee approach.
Huskies’ sophomore running back Dominique Lee returned from his shoulder injury and showed spurts of what he’s capable of on only four carries for 28 yards and a touchdown. He’s being held back for his own protection by coaches. ELAC will need more of his running ability next week against rival Pasadena City College to determine the conference championship.
ELAC stayed effective throughout the game, even as both quarterbacks were involved in running the offensive. Sophomore backup QB Levi Wells threw three touchdowns, as did starting sophomore QB Jonathon Santos.
Santos, not known for his speed, gave everyone a surprise with his highlight 54-yard dash into the endzone to give ELAC a commanding 28-0 lead in the first quarter.
The Huskies racked up 501 yards of total offense, the most this season, and most since the 2014 season.
Huskies coaches refused to acknowledge it purposely racked up 70 points on West L.A., despite the animosity in the game. Instead, it gave a chance to players who do not normally play to add film to their highlight reels for scholarship opportunities.
ELAC offensive coordinator Art Hoomiriatana was a former coach at West L.A., under current head coach Marguet Miller, and said he had a strong affinity for Miller.
“No way did we do this on purpose. We wanted to run the ball out and runout the clock, but they stacked the box so we can’t run the ball like that. It was a good shot for others to get in there. Everybody knows in junior college football you have to get your guys some film to get them out of here and move on. I love Coach Miller, he’s like a mentor to me, no way we do that to him,’’ Hoomiriatana said.
ELAC, now 6-2 in the season and on a five-game win streak, is a heavy favorite at home next week against Pasadena City College, whose record is 4-4. Kickoff is at 6 p.m.