SWC football team hammers Vikings, 34-14, to hike record to 3-0

The Southwestern College football team enters Saturday’s community college non-conference game at Mt. San Jacinto College ranked 12th in the state with an undefeated 3-0 record.

The high marks appear deserving at this point of the season following in the wake of three lopsided victories to jump-start the 2026 campaign: 27-0 over College of the Canyon on Aug. 29, 52-10 over Grossmont College on Sept. 5 and 34-14 last Saturday over visiting Long Beach City College.

The Jaguars have out-scored their three opening opponents 113-24.

“We’re looking to become even better,” said Southwestern College linebacker Niko Ta’a (Lincoln), who logged three unassisted tackles, including two for losses. “We know what we want. That definitely motivates us.

“Everyone is playing for each other. We have good chemistry and depth.”

As on cue, the Jaguars started methodically with a 14-6 halftime lead, then raced for the kill with 20 unanswered second-half points to lead 34-6 a the end of the third quarter. Long Beach City scored its second touchdown with 3:40 to play in the game.

Southwestern opened scoring on a blocked punt recovered in the end zone by Haneef Bilal. Daniel Meadows tacked on the point after for a quick 7-0 lead.

Caleb Blocker doubled the score on a one-yard run with 11:06 to play in the second quarter. Meadows followed with the successful PAT for a 14-0 lead.

A fake punt by SWC’s Aaron Lee on fourth down kept the drive alive.

The Vikings scored on a 13-yard pass play from Logan Ebnet to Hezeikiah Robinson to make it a one score game. But the visitors would not score again until they trailed by 28 points.

The hosts opened the second half with three touchdowns. The Jags went ahead 21-6 on a 93-yard kickoff return by Kiram Dallas, then moved in front 28-6 on a two-yard rushing touchdown by Jamar Johnson. Marlon Ames then notched an 11-yard interception return for a 34-6 advantage.

Kevin Jennett caught a 14-yard pass from Kayde Bodine in garbage time to compete scoring in the contest.

“At halftime in the locker room the coach said we needed to come out and take the momentum,” Dallas said. “It was amazing.”

Long Beach City actually out-gained Southwestern 283-264 in total yards; the Jags were just more effective in their plays. The Vikings ran 62 plays to 48 for the hosts.

SWC quarterback Dom Duran completed 11 of 15 attempts for 112 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions. 

The Jags had the advantage 152-70 in rushing yards. Elias Johnson and Jamar Johnson both had nine carries for 52 yards each while Kavien Ford had five carries for 25 yards. Blocker gained eight yards on six attempts.

Jamie Gray led the receivers with four catches for 53 yards while Dallas had two catches for nine yards. Jamar Johnson caught one aerial for 23 yards. Everyone else had less than 10 yards on one catch.

Meadows turned in another productive outing with four extra-point conversions and one missed field goal from distance. He also took six kickoffs, averaging 56.3 yards. He’s perfect on the season on 14 PATs and three of five field goals for 23 kicking points.

Lee punted four times for a 46.3 average with one kick rolling 54 yards.

Titus White had one kickoff return for 20 yards. Jamil Kassab had two punt returns for 33 yards.

R.J. Perryman keyed the defense with five tackles, including four solo hits. 

Ames had two sacks for 19 yards. Brady Eads, Kylan Studebaker, Carson Curtis and Dax Monestime each recorded one tackle for a loss — nine total for the team.

Lee said the fake punt was not a designed play. He gained 14 yards to move the chains into first down territory.

“I saw that the outside man on the line was in the C-gap and that no one was on the outside,” said Lee, a Point Loma High School alumnus. “He was on the inside, so I watched as the gunners came down. The guys coming weren’t looking. I saw green grass, so I decided to take it off and run. I think that was the first fake punt in my career. I just went with it.”

As for the team being off to a 3-0 start?

“It’s a good strength and an ego boost but I don’t want to take it too lightly,” Lee said. “There’s a lot we can do better. There are still mistakes. It looks like we’re playing well in the stats, but we’re not playing to the best of our abilities. I want to see where our true potential lies.”

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