An ugly win is still a win—and they don’t come MUCH uglier than LBCC’s 42-28 victory over the visiting West L.A. Oilers.  I don’t mean ugly like the 3-2 Auburn/Mississippe State GAME, but like The Longest Yard.  There were two skirmishes on the field during the game, and a brawl nearly broke out after the post-game handshake, causing Vikings Coach Mike Reisbig and Oilers Coach Marguet Miller to pull their teams into the locker room immediately.  If that weren’t enough, in the second quarter a West L.A. fan punched an LBCC fan for what he felt was “excessive taunting.”  The Vikings on the field didn’t fare much better, drawing three flags for personal fouls. 

The extracurricular activity distracted from an up-and-down game with a pretty wild fourth quarter, which saw 49 points scored!  There were plenty of positives for the Vikings—their defense, which has struggled against the run at times (particularly against El Camino in their home opener loss), figured out a way to scheme their undersized 3-3-5 to stop the run.  The Oilers were held to 43 yards on 23 attempts, or a grand total of 1.7 yards per carry.  There was also the first-half play of Roderick Cohn, Millikan graduate and an excellent first-year corner for the Vikings.  Cohn broke up several passes and pulled in two interceptions (including a circus catch that can only be described as Cromartie-esque).  Along with DB Markeis Carmichael (from Poly), Cohn was a big part of keeping Oilers’ starting QB Ryan Rosenvall to just 262 yards on 50 attempts.

There were some offensive flashes, too, especially running back Darren Tubbs getting 207 yards on 36 carries.  Receiver Brandon Joseph had 10 catches for 131 yards and a touchdown, and season leader Stephen Burton had two grabs, both for touchdowns.  Vikings QB Josh Powell’s line was solid, as he went 21-34 WITH 282 yards, 3 TDs, and 2 picks. 

But to get back to it…it’s all about that fourth quarter.  When the clock read 15:00, the score was 21-0 LBCC.  At the end of the game, another seven touchdowns had been scored.  West L.A. got things going with a Sam Rodgers 6-yard run, and then LBCC fired right back, as Powell connected with Burton for a 38-yard touchdown pass.  West L.A. then scored on two consecutive drives to pull within 7, at 28-21.  Before the kickoff the LBCC sideline was tense—this was a game they’d dominated, but were somehow only leading by one score, with momentum on the opposing sideline.  Three minutes later, the Vikings answered back with another score to pull away; the last of West L.A.’s serious efforts ended on the next drive, when a 67-yard TD pass was called back on a holding penalty.  Two plays later, Lawrence Alai stripped the ball and David Sausau took it back 49 yards for the Vikings’ decisive score, making it 42-21. 

West L.A. added another meaningless score, I assume mostly to drive home the absurdity of the following statistic.  First three quarters of the game: 21 points were scored.  Last quarter: 49.  Coach Reisbig, who was not happy with his team’s spotty performance after the game, attributed their ability to hang in the late shootout to the running regimen his coaches implement in practices.  “We are unmerciful with running,” he said.  With a 3-1 record as they head into league play two weeks from now, he has to be happy with his team’s endurance late in the game.  If he can keep his Vikings from running their mouths on October 11^th, and the Grossmont coaches can do the same, the next game at Vet’s should be a lot less tense.