photo by Adam Omernik
Joe Camacho of the University of La Verne ran for 36 yards against Whittier, Saturday. The Leopards ended their season with a 41-21 win over the Poets making their record 3-3 in SCIAC play. The win brings ULV into a third place tie in conference.
Closing out its 2004 campaign in fine fashion, the University of La Verne football team led from start to finish, easily dominating Whittier College, 41-21, at Newman Field in Whittier.
With the victory, the Leopards closed out the season with a 4-5 overall record and a 3-3 record in Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play which put them in a tie for third place in the standings with Redlands.
The third place tie stands as a huge improvement from last year’s 1-8 squad.
“The biggest thing is we are playing with much more confidence than we did last year,” head coach Don Morel said.
The Leopards may not be a championship football team yet, but they have taken huge steps in that direction.
Not only having the worst conference record last year at 0-6, the Leopards also scored a conference worst 142 points (17.7 per game) and allowed 296 points (37 per game) which ranked second to last only to Whittier, who gave up 375 points.
Using a new version of offense, the Leopards scored a total of 251 points this year which ranked third of all conference teams.
Morel credits the improvement from last year with players familiar with the program.
“We have some players who have been in the program for a number of years,” Morel said. “And I would start with the offensive linemen, Jacob Round, Aaron Keck as well as Josh Koepfer.”
Add the tight ends to the mix and that makes for a very good offensive line.
“I think those guys have made a real effort to be better up front, where it all starts,” Morel said. “We have improved there a ton. And our skill players have really played well this years.”
One reason for the drastic turn-around in the Leopards offensive attack is the fact that they have used one quarterback, unlike last season when they switched back and forth using both Brian Guerrero and Kevin Davis.
This year, Guerrero won the starting job duties and did not disappoint.
Guerrero threw for 1,842 yards with 13 touchdowns and nine interceptions.
“He has done a very good job,” Morel said. “We have changed the offense quite a bit from what we have done the past few years, and he picked it up well. He is a good decision maker.”
Good decision making has happened all year for the Leopards and the Whittier game was no-exception.The Leopards dominated all facets of the game only allowing 217 yards, while they gained 505 yards on offense.
Leading the Leopards once again was Guerrero who completed 9 of 15 passes for 187 yards and two touchdowns.
On the ground the Leopards were sparked by Phillip Craig and Mike Anello.
Craig rushed for 126 yards on 23 carries and two touchdowns to go along with a 91-yard touchdown pass while Anello racked up 83 yards on 11 carries.
Craig led the Leopards with 670 rushing yards on the season.
“We did our thing once again,” Craig said. “We closed out the season the way we wanted to and now we just have to keep improving and get better next year.”
The Leopards jumped all over the Poets early using 17 first quarter points to slam the door on any chance of a Poet come back.
The defense did the rest as the Leopards took a commanding 27-7 lead at halftime.
“We played as a collective unit once again,” center Mike Myers said.
With the victory, ULV can look forward to next season.
“Now the off-season starts,” Myers said. “I think we will be even better next year.”
Jonathan Corral can be reached at jcorral@ulv.edu.