Page 6 August 28, 2014 TORRANCE TRIBUNE Spartans Looking To Improve By Adam Serrao It wasn’t long ago that the South High Spartans were the class of the Pioneer League football conference. Under head coach Josh Waybright, the team seemed to be competing for a CIF title, let alone a Pioneer League division crown, every single year. As they do with most things in life, however, hard times came upon Waybright and the Spartans and the team simply did not look the same last year. Using the tough-luck season as a learning experience, though, could be the best thing the Spartans could do. With a new start awaiting and fresh slate in front of them, coach Waybright and his Spartans will look to reclaim their former glory as the best team in the Pioneer League. It doesn’t seem that long ago that the Spartans were in the game that had them tasting glory against traditional powerhouse Lompoc for the CIF championship. With 14 points in the fourth quarter, the Spartans came storming back from an early 10-0 deficit and trailed by only six with just seconds remaining on the clock. With the ball on the opponent’s two yard line, Waybright was going to rely on his running game to get the job done. Running back Eric Capiacchione took the ball and with only two yards to go until glory, was stuffed after traveling about 1.9 of those two yards. Time ran off the clock, the Spartans lost the game and the team has unfortunately never seemed to be the same since. That year was almost five years ago for the Spartans, taking place in 2010. Waybright and his squad made the playoffs the next year, but were ousted in the second round before being dropped in the first round in 2012 and missing the playoffs altogether last year. That brings us up to date on the Spartans. With their worst record in a long time coming last season (2013), not only coach Waybright, but the rest of his team is extremely motivated to finally get things turned around. With only two wins all season long, it was obvious that the team needed to improve not only on defense, but on offense as well. The team’s two wins on the season came against the two statistically worst teams in the division last season. Though they were still good, tough league victories, Waybright and company will look to multiply those victories this season and become the best team in their league. HOLIDAY CORPORATE PARTIES Great Banquet Rooms, Great Catered Food, Great Live Music and Atmosphere and Great Old School Fun! Reserve Your Holiday Party Now! To book your event or for more information, please contact Charlotte at charlotte@pvbowl.com; or 310.326.5120 One of the ways that the head coach hopes to do that is by changing up his offense a bit. By bringing in a new offensive coordinator, things should start to look a little bit different on at least one side of the ball. Deon Toliver has recently spent two seasons as the head coach of the Gardena Panthers, but also has experience within the Pioneer League, as he used to coach at Leuzinger as well. Anyone who knows head coach Waybright knows that he likes to lead with a run-first attack. Big running backs and smash-mouth style of play are almost what define him as a coach. Toliver, however, will bring a spread offense style of play to South High, which should switch things up just enough and may even be a recipe for success for these Spartans. If the Spartans are going to improve this year, they certainly have the schedule to do so. Opening the season up against Lawndale at home on September 5th should give Waybright and his team ample opportunity to spread their wings and start the year off the right way with a victory. In their last eight games, South is 7-1 against Lawndale. Carpinteria and El Segundo might provide the team with their two biggest challenges in back-to-back weeks just before league play begins, but it is then that the Spartans will have to put their strength to the test and show their fans how they have improved since last season. In a tough interleague schedule, the Spartans will look to rely on returning starters Joshua Rotuna at wide receiver and the Bjazevich brothers both in the backfield and catching the ball to get the job done. Though it hasn’t necessarily been smooth sailing for Waybright and his team as of late, the choppy waters have never been one to deter the Spartans from ascending back to greatness. It has always been difficult to keep South High down for long and with a new offense and a few returning starters who now know the ways, this could be the year that the Spartans return to the top of the Pioneer League standings. Naturally, only time will tell what the season has in store, but with a favorable schedule and the undying will of Waybright and his Spartans to retrieve a Pioneer League crown, there is surely nothing that is out of the realm of possibility for the season to come. • USC or UCLA: Which Side Are You On? By Adam Serrao Imagine a city in which two College Football teams that are just over 10 miles apart from one another are among the best teams in all of College Football. Okay, now stop imagining, because that city is Los Angeles and those teams are USC and UCLA. For almost a quarter century, the two teams have taken turns being amongst the elite of College Football. It was UCLA’s turn, then USC’s, then UCLA’s again and - you get the picture. Last year, UCLA had all of the fun once again. With a new regime change and most of all their penalties having been shed, however, it looks like USC just may be primed for a revival. For the first time in a very long time there is finally reason to believe that both, at the same time and in the same year, USC and UCLA will be elite. Okay, so if you’re a USC fan, then naturally your first instinct will be to say that UCLA will stink this year. Likewise, if you’re a UCLA fan, then USC will continue on with their losing ways and pay for how Reggie Bush cheated nearly 10 years ago. Naturally only time will tell what will come of this college football season, but I am here to tell you why this year both teams will be good. Let’s start with USC. Lane Kiffin is gone. There. I said it. That’s reason enough for USC fans to believe that their team will be better this year. Now cast off to Alabama as an offensive coordinator under Nick Saban, no Trojan fan will ever have to see his visor smugly blocking out the sun on their sidelines again. The bubble screen is now a thing of the past. Enter Steve Sarkisian. Sarkisian is inheriting a team that is lacking depth but extremely deep in talent like most USC teams traditionally are. Being that he has a team with loads of talent, Sarkisian’s plan is to use an up-tempo style of play using conventional offensive sets, unlike his predecessor with the visor. “We are going to go fast,” Sarkisian said. “And that is something very different than has ever been seen at the Coliseum.” He’s speaking of the one in Los Angeles, of course. Not the old Roman one. But Sarkisian expects his players to play as if they are gladiators every time they set foot out on the field this year. Then there’s UCLA. There is almost no questioning the reasons why UCLA will be good this year. Brett Hundley remains the starting quarterback after foregoing millions of dollars to join the NFL. Now he will be one of the main frontrunners for the Heisman trophy and will most likely have his team competing for a National Championship while he is the big man on campus and enjoys all of the benefits that come along with that. Not paid benefits, of course. Let’s not get anyone in trouble. Finishing at 10-3 just a year ago, head coach Jim Mora brings back a squad that is ranked at No. 7 in the preseason USA Today coaches’ poll (USC was No. 15). Mora, though met with blank stares upon his arrival in Westwood, has permeated the Bruins football team with a competitive spirit that is almost unmatched in all of College Football, the same competitive spirit that Pete Caroll once upon a time breathed into his USC football team before bailing for the NFL. According to WE MOVED!! See USC or UCLA, page 10 VISIT OUR LARGER STORE, BIGGER & BETTER! SUITE 10. We sell custom hockey equipment. Repair skates. And sharpen blades. 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