Samo takes loss against El Segundo as a learning tactic in high hopes for their next season

On Nov. 4, Samo played in their final game against El Segundo High School, taking a hard loss of 45-6. For most schools, it’s tradition to honor their seniors at the school’s last home game at something that’s been coined Senior Night. For Samo, coach Ramsey Lambert went in hoping to represent and give appreciation for his seniors and make sure each one got to play in what could possibly be their last football game ever. “[Our] hopes were for everyone to play their hearts out for the seniors, a lot of them have dedicated four years to the program, some of them were just coming back for the first time in a few years, so our hope was to get everyone to play for those seniors tonight and get all the seniors in the game, which we did,” Lambert said.Despite this opportunistic mindset, the game could not commence without girls basketball coach Doug Kim, recognizing all the seniors on the team and praising them for their efforts both for the team and Samo. Afterward, he introduced the captains for the game including temporary captain, Devonae Jelks (’12), who came to honor her sister and show appreciation for Samo’s efforts to provide comfort and privacy for their hard loss. Then at the flip of the coin, El Segundo won and choose to kick first, having Samo receive first.At the start of the first quarter, Samo struggled to make a touchdown, turning the ball over to El Segundo who achieved the first touchdown and seven points in the game. After turnovers for both sides, El Segundo scored another touchdown, pulling into a lead of 14-0. However, Samo wasn’t ready to give up. In a punt return, Samo returned to El Segundo’s 36 yard line and in the next play ran the ball all the way down the field for a touchdown. Minimizing their opponents lead 14-6.“[Throughout the game], everyone worked really hard for each other and played their hearts out,” Justin Platt (’18) said.With only 47 seconds left in the quarter, Samo intercepted the ball and attempted to score another touchdown. However they ran out downs and consequently had to turn the ball over to El Segundo who scored, ending the first quarter 21-6.“We played really well,” Lambert said. “We were in a battle and then we just made two mistakes in the first half that let the score get away from us a little bit and it’s tough to come back from that.”In the second half, El Segundo came out strong with two consecutive touchdowns, increasing their lead 35-6. Unfortunately, Samo took a beating in the first quarter, but retreated to the locker rooms during halftime to come back stronger than they were before.At the sound of the buzzer signifying the end of the first half, Samo’s marching band came out and performed their award winning show, honoring their seniors as well on this Senior Night. After halftime, Samo came out strong with tackles that stalled the other team. However, El Segundo regained their drive and scored two more touchdowns within the third and fourth quarter. This further increased their lead, ending the game with a final score of 45-6.“Next season we just got to get back to work, hone in on some fundamentals, get some more kids to come out that are walking around campus that will really help us out and just work hard and get better at what we do,” Lambert said.Although Samo came out with a loss, Lambert was very proud of his players and has high hopes for next year’s season.“Again, they played really hard and even the official mentioned that after the game just now,” Lambert said.For the seniors leaving, his final mentoring words would be “to find a way to win” in hopes that they will wear what they have learned from Samo with pride.