Nwosu racks up 199 yards in 51-12 rout

Emmanuel Nwosu ran for a career-high 199 yards on Saturday night and the SBCC defense held L.A. Southwest to four rushing yards in a 51-12 football win on the road.

The Vaqueros (2-1) topped the 50-point mark for the second straight week. Southwest fell to 0-3.

SBCC's run game was in high gear for the second straight Saturday. After gaining 237 yards in last week's 56-7 win at West L.A., the Vaqueros amassed 272 rushing yards and six touchdowns on 43 attempts for a 6.3 average.

The Vaqueros got off to a blazing start as Jeremiah Wright returned the opening kickoff 88 yards for a touchdown. SBCC added three running TDs by QB Gerald Hickson (5 yards), Cody Perry (2 yards) and QB Joshua Evans (14 yards) to lead 28-0 after one quarter.

Nwosu had 106 yards on seven tries in the first half as the Vaqueros built a 31-0 lead. The sophomore from Dos Pueblos High finished with 199 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries. That's the fourth-highest rushing game in school history. His eye-popping 14.2-yard average would have been bigger if he hadn't had a 45-yard TD run erased by a holding penalty on the second play of the fourth quarter.

The hard-charging 225-pounder set a career high in rushing for the second straight week and also caught a 13-yard pass for 212 total yards. He's averaging 7.9 yards per carry and is second in the state with 389 rushing yards (130 per game).

Nwosu scored a touchdown on a 40-yard run late in the third quarter after the Cougars passed for two TDs in 77 seconds. He started up the left sideline, got a stellar block from Perry near the 27 and cut back to the middle of the field for his second TD of the year, boosting the lead to 38-12.

"We started out well and played well, then we tried to get a lot of guys in the game," said coach Craig Moropoulos. "We kind of stalled out a little in the third quarter but at least we finished with a flurry.

"This is the kind of game where you have to stay focused for 60 minutes."

The Vaqueros racked up 461 total yards and held the Cougars to 195. SBCC was 9-for-15 on third-down conversions and 6-6 in red-zone scoring chances. They also had 14 penalties for 167 yards.

The defense recorded seven sacks, led by freshman Chayvis Curry's 3½ for 19 yards in losses. Curry, a 6-3, 210-pound defensive lineman from Fresno, led the team in tackles for the third straight game with eight, including five for loss. He also recovered a fumble at the Cougar 38 in the first quarter, setting up the Vaqueros' third touchdown drive.

They went 38 yards in eight plays and Hickson converted a fourth-and-4 from the 14 with a six-yard run. Perry scored the TD on a 2-yard burst up the middle for a 21-0 advantage in the first 8½ minutes.

Evans came in at quarterback with 3:22 to go in the opening quarter and promptly directed a three-play, 47-yard scoring drive. Nwosu ran for 30 on first down and Evans finished it off by faking to Nwosu and cruising in from 14 yards out. Evans had 34 yards on seven tries and scored his second TD on a 5-yard rush on the fifth play of the fourth quarter.

Hickson was 9-16 passing for 74 yards while Evans went 5-8 for 72 yards. Bradley Kleven was 4-4 for 43 yards. They passed to eight receivers with Wright catching five passes for 16 yards and Donald Lambert grabbing three for 64 yards.

"We had some injuries tonight and we may be losing one our best offensive linemen," Moropoulos noted. "Hopefully we'll get home and find out it's not as bad as we think."

The Vaqueros will host Compton on Saturday with a 4 p.m. kickoff at La Playa Stadium.