Corsairs defeat Rams 63-0 to become the SCFA champs

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Halfway through the third quarter, the Corsairs pulled a majority of their starters for the rest of the game. With nearly 20 minutes left of play, the result of the game was already inevitable. The Corsairs had no chance of losing and ended what has been arguably the best Santa Monica College football team in history.

The Corsairs demolished the visiting Victor Valley College Rams, 63-0, to finish off the first undefeated season in school history since 1980.

Several members of the previously undefeated Corsair team from 1980 came out to support the current team in achieving something that hasn't been done since they played.

Former Corsair wide receiver, Gary Nobles Sr., who transferred to San Diego State out of SMC and eventually played a season with the Los Angeles Raiders was more than ecstatic to come out and support the current Corsairs team.

"Both of my children currently go here," said Nobles. "It's a cool coincidence, but the first year my children attend SMC is the year that the football team goes undefeated since I played."

The other members of the 1980 team that were in attendance were former Seattle Seahawks wide receiver, James Hood, former Detroit Lions and Indianapolis Colts defensive back, Dwayne Galloway, former Corsair defensive back, Ricky Williams, and the defensive coordinator of the 1980 team, Don Weems.

The Corsairs won in unbelievable fashion. SMC dominated all aspects of the game.

After receiving the ball first, the Corsairs were forced to punt on their first possession. With the Rams driving onto the Corsairs' side of the field and close to scoring, linebacker Birdel Hodge leveled the Rams quarterback to cause a fumble that defensive lineman Freeman Coleman landed on for the recovery. From that game-changing turnover the Corsairs never looked back.

Utah-commit, quarterback Troy Williams topped off his extraordinary season under center for the Corsairs by hurling 383 yards for 7 touchdowns and was awarded the SCFA American Division Championship Bowl MVP.

"I had positive energy through the whole week, tried telling myself I was going to go out here and have a great game," said Williams. "God blessed me today and most importantly we got the win. We made history today and are one of the best teams to come through Santa Monica."

Williams threw touchdown passes to five separate receivers, but it seemed he liked to single out Baxter Kirven who finished the night with 109 receiving yards and three touchdown grabs.

On the defensive side of the ball, several players stood out. Linebacker Birdel Hodge led the way with 9 tackles, 5 sacks to push his season total to 15 and two forced fumbles.

The other notable players of the game are linebacker Marquis Lomax who had two interceptions, Melvin Wilson IV who returned one of the six Corsair interceptions for a touchdown and Max Lyons returned a punt 70 yards for a touchdown.

The Corsairs showed they were by far the better team on the night and one of the best football teams SMC has ever had.

"These guys deserved a dominant performance, they deserved to finish it going away," said head coach Gifford Lindheim. "This was the perfect ending to the story."

Since starting as the head coach in 2009, Gifford Lindheim has now won 5 straight conference championships, but has failed to win the end of the season bowl game; however, this year has been different. This year will see him etch his name into the Santa Monica College history books as the head coach that brought prestige back to the SMC football team.