Edgar Melik-Stepanyan
The Glendale Community College football team's 2005 season will start
today.
The Vaqueros' bids for a Western State Conference Southern
Division championship and a bowl berth were dashed with last week's
35-21 division loss to Compton College.
Now, GCC Coach John Cicuto said the Vaqueros will look toward next
season.
"We're starting a new season right now," Cicuto said. "[We want
to] build for next year off the last two weeks of this season."
GCC (3-5, 2-3 in division) looks to snap its three-game losing
streak when it plays host Santa Monica College at 7 p.m. today. For
the Vaqueros, the division game against Santa Monica (4-4, 2-3) might
be a chance for their sophomores to add to their resumes, and provide
an opportunity for the freshmen to audition for starting roles next
season.
Cicuto said his team has had enthusiastic practices, despite
facing the possibility of another sub-par campaign.
"To come out and practice hard, knowing that we're not going to
win a championship and knowing that we're not going to a bowl game,
is a sign of a good football program," said Cicuto, whose squad began
the year 3-2. "Hopefully we can come out with the same fire that we
had in the beginning of the season.
"But we have to go out one game at a time. The last game will take
care of itself. [Our players] are up. We've had a lot of enthusiasm
in practice."
Cicuto said he's learned an invaluable lesson this year.
"We've worked this team harder than we've worked any other team in
the past seven years," he said. "Looking back, we probably should
have given them a couple of days off, and gotten their minds off
football."
The Vaqueros' schedule won't get any easier in their final game.
They will finish the year with a division contest against visiting
Citrus College (6-2, 4-1) on Nov. 13.
But they are focused on a formidable Santa Monica team.
The Corsairs have the third-ranked offense in the conference,
averaging 409.3 total yards per game. They are also accumulating
216.5 rushing yards per contest.
Santa Monica running back Maurice Little is 15th in the conference
in rushing with 420 yards.
GCC running back Chris Berroud (811 yards) is third in the
conference in rushing.
