By John M. Sherrard
(Santa Monica, CA) The Mt. SAC Football team easily dispatched Santa Monica College, 41-6, in a National Division game Saturday afternoon, but not long after the last equipment bag was packed up the Mounties had one thing on their mind - Fullerton College.
No. 1 Fullerton, the 2016 CCCAA State and JCFootball.com National Champion, will host the Mounties at Nathan Shapell Stadium on the campus of Yorba Linda High School this Saturday afternoon for an early-season showdown.
Mt. SAC knows all about titles as they have four state championships.
The Mounties, who moved up in the rankings to No. 6, fell to Fullerton last season and look to revenge the loss.
"This will be a great opportunity for our guys to play the No. 1 ranked team in the state," Mt. SAC Football coach Bob Jastraub said. "They are very talented and well-coached. We will need a total team effort to beat them."
In the win over Santa Monica the Mounties scored the first six touchdowns for a 41-0 lead before the Corsairs could spoil the shutout with a fourth-quarter score.
The Mounties were led by freshman quarterback Jaiave Magalei, who threw for 227 yards (21-30) and a touchdown. The running game was also alive and well with 10 running backs getting into the action for 302 yards.
Sophomore running back Andre Walker had a game-high 90 yards on 8 carries and a pair of freshmen backs – Canaan Chandler (57 yds, 8 carries 2 TDs) and Hykeem Massey (52 yds, 11 carries) added yardage for the Mounties.
Eight receivers got in on the action for 283 yards with sophomore wide receiver Darrian Hambrick leading the way with eight receptions for 84 yards, while sophomore wide out Cameron Coleman caught six passes for 58 yards and a touchdown.
Gaston Bouchereau and Austin Griffin (16-yd. TD) had 43 and 37 yards respectively.
The Mounties mounted up 585 total yards and the defense held Santa Monica to 17 yards rushing.
Mt. SAC started the game with three TDs in the first quarter, starting with a 1-yard run by sophomore running back Tre Elliot for the 7-0 lead with only three minutes elapsed.
That was followed by a 10-yard TD pass from Magalei to Coleman for the 14-0 lead midway through the quarter and the third score of the opening period was a 20-yard run by Asfunso Elam (6 carries, 36 yards for the game) to lead, 21-0.
Chandler finished the scoring in the first half with a 20-yard run just before the halftime break (00:59) on a 94-yard drive and a 28-0 lead.
Midway through the third quarter Mt. SAC freshman quarterback Richard Stammetti (2 for 5, 37 yds) tossed a 16-yard touchdown pass to Griffin as the Mounties built up an insurmountable 35-0 lead.
Mt. SAC finished its scoring on Chandlers second score of the afternoon with a three-yard run early in the fourth quarter for the 41-0 lead.
Santa Monica scored its only TD of the game with 8:39 left in the game.
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For additional information, please contact the Mt. SAC Sports Information Office at 909.274.4630.