Travis Clark returns as opposing coach, Samo loses 62-0 to Lawndale

April 13, 2015: head football coach Travis Clark (’86) has left his alma mater, Samo, to take the same position at Lawndale High School.Oct. 16, 2015: he returned to Corsair Stadium [Santa Monica College], yet he was on the other sideline.Though their ex-coach is now their adversary, the Vikings were still able to enter the emotional match with the sole focus on the game.“We are focused on football right now,” running back (RB) Deandre Parks (’16) said before the game.Samo ended up losing 62-0 to the Lawndale Cardinals on Friday Oct. 16, getting shut out for the second straight home game. They are now 0-7 overall and 0-2 in Ocean League.Lawndale came out firing and torched Samo’s defense to start the game. The read-option (where either the quarterback (QB) or the RB runs the ball), a Coach Clark staple, could not be stopped in the first quarter. Samo just couldn’t get their offense started, and didn’t get a first down all quarter, resulting in a 21-0 first quarter lead for the Cardinals.Samo’s defense had trouble with pass coverage, as they allowed four touchdown passes, and allowed former Viking RB Zach Cooper (’16) to run over 150 yards and score two touchdowns for Lawndale. Cooper had transferred to Lawndale with Clark for his senior year after starring for Samo in his junior year. Athlete Joshua Pittman (’18), who was also on the Samo team last year in his freshman year, transferred as well. The score was 0-48 at half.Samo’s special teams, however, proved to be effective as they were able to penetrate through the line and block the points after touchdown kick multiple times.In the second half, the Vikings were able to fix some of their earlier mistakes. Wide receiver Jalen Jones (’16) came up with a huge pick (interception) to start the half.“I was thinking of scoring [when I got it],” Jones said. “We had to get on the board. We had to do something.”Unfortunately, he was not able to score but Samo was able to establish a bit of a running game in the second half though it didn’t help too much as the game ended in a 62-0 loss.Injuries continued to haunt Samo, who were without a myriad of players, including the first, second, and third string quarterbacks. This lead to both RB Jordan Maness (’16) and Parks having to step up under center.Head coach Ramsey Lambert didn’t believe that the game was all negative.“One positive is we played a lot harder tonight from beginning to end, then in a lot of the games,” Lambert said. “We are starting to understand the effort concept of it.”At the end of the game, many Samo players went over to the Lawndale side and had heartfelt moments with their old coach. Coach Clark met each player with a warm embrace, and told them how much it meant to him that they came over. Clark wasn’t used to being on the other sideline as he not only coached at Samo but played and graduated from there as well.“It was weird,” Clark said. “Very nostalgic... I’m a real Santa Monica guy, born and raised in this city. I went to Will Rogers [Elementary School], John Adams [Middle School], then Samo. For me it’s weird being on the other sideline, but my profession is a coach, and that's what I do. It’s good to be back because I see a lot of my family and friends.”According to Clark, the reason he left the program at Samo had nothing to do with the team but with off-the-field issues.“Santa Monica High School had the potential and I think still has the potential to be an elite program,” Clark said. “I wanted to bring that back to the city. I just don’t think that the powers that be have the same ideas as me about the program being elite. I need to be in a place that's going to support my vision. I need an elite high school football program.”Going into next week’s matchup against Culver City High School, which is the last home game of the year, Samo has a lot to work on.“We are going to win,” Jones said. “We are going to play hard and make sure we play to our potential.”