Samo varsity football loses at home in season debut

Samo began the football season on a disappointing note, with a 56-10 home loss to Redondo Union on Friday, Sep. 4.First game nerves seemed to get the best of players, as Samo came out with a rusty start, allowing two unanswered touchdowns in the first quarter and making several fundamental mistakes.The Vikings were finally able to put some points on the board in the second quarter after a strong drive led by the rushing of running back Deandre Parks (’16) and halfback Tony Dancy (’18). Kicker Jordan Golden (’16) capped off the drive with a field goal to make the score 3-13.Redondo was able to take advantage of the holes in Samo’s pass coverage and they responded with three straight touchdowns to widen their comfortable lead to 3-35 at halftime by being able to capitalize on the many Samo mistakes.Offensive lineman Juan Castillo (’16) displayed his leadership on the sideline reminding his teammates that the game was not yet over.“I was telling them to keep their heads up and don’t let the scoreboard fool you, we are still in this game,” Castillo said.In the second half Samo was able to establish their presence in the rushing game. The players began to find their footing and get their heads back in the game.“The team stopped focusing about the score and executed what we’ve been coached,” quarterback Dariush Sayson (’18) said. “We minimized mistakes and continued to push through, still going 100%.”Even though Samo lost, the Vikings still had several highlights in the game. Sayson, in his first game as starting quarterback, was able to extend plays and stay composed while being pressured by several Redondo players. In the last three minutes of the game, Samo was able to get their momentum back as they scored a touchdown along with recovering a fumble on defense.“We kept our composure,” Parks said. “Things weren’t going our way, but at the end of the day we worked too hard to be shut out”.First year head coach Ramsey Lambert shared what the team needs to work on going into the next game.“The main thing we need to work on is fixing our eyes,” Lambert said. “Our eyes are in the wrong spot sometimes and we need to focus them on our objectives. We also need to be more physical in the secondary and with our receivers”.Looking forward, this Vikings team has a lot of potential and can easily bounce back to make this season very exciting.