SMC football looks to reach .500 vs. Glendale

The Santa Monica College Corsairs are coming off their biggest win of the season after dismantling the Antelope Valley Marauders this past Saturday 66-7.

After a deflating loss to Southwestern two weeks prior, it would have come as no surprise to see a team like SMC with high expectations suffer from something of a hangover going into their next matchup.

With a team like Antelope Valley presenting themselves as a perfect trap game, it could have been easy for SMC, to look past the Maurauders.

But this isn’t the Corsairs’ first cannon battle. The three-time reigning conference champs were not lulled into a sub-par performance.

But coming off of a big win, the question is to whether SMC will play with the same degree of desperation they did coming off the Southwestern game.

“We were disappointed about the Southwestern loss naturally. However, I don’t think our confidence was ever shaken. We know we have a talented group. The challenge is to get everybody playing up to their capabilities,” said head coach Gifford Lindheim. “We had very productive practices during the bye and we felt good going into the [Antelope Valley] game. The win validates the work.”

This weekend the Corsairs will line up against the undefeated Glendale Community College Vaqueros. Making things more interesting, Glendale just steamrolled Pierce College 62-7, the team SMC beat in last year’s conference championship.

The Vaqueros are similar to the Corsairs in their offensive and defensive approach. They have a balanced attack on offense executing efficiently in the passing, and rushing game, and their defense is just as stingy as Santa Monica’s.

If the Corsairs are going to win their 23rd consecutive conference matchup, they will have to execute on both sides of the ball, and make little to no mistakes.

“Glendale is having an outstanding season. They are 4-0 and just beat Pierce by a similar score that we beat [Antelope Valley],” said Lindheim. “They are playing with confidence and they are well coached. Of course, we’re confident that if we play the way we’re capable of, good things will happen for us.”

It’s no secret that SMC’s defense has had just as much to do with the Corsairs success as anything else, and their last game against Antelope Valley was no different.

But if the Corsairs are going to continue to dominate the American Pacific Conference, the defense will once again have to answer the call.

“Each game is a new chapter of the season. We’re hoping to continue to grow as a defense and improve,” said Lindheim. “We saw some nice progress from some individuals and the defense as a whole against [Antelope Valley] last week.

Obviously, they didn’t score an offensive touchdown. So that’s the goal. Glendale is a high-powered offense. We’ve got a nice challenge ahead of us on the defensive end. We’re looking forward to it.”