APTOS — The Cabrillo College Seahawks will finish with a winning record for the first time since 2006 following a 30-20 drubbing of the Merced College Blue Devils at Carl Conelly Stadium on Saturday.
After the final horn had sounded fans in the stands cheered with gratitude and admiration for head coach Darren Arbet and his bowl game eligible Seahawks (6-3, 3-2). Some players danced along the sidelines while others wept.
“They understood what this game meant,” said coach Arbet. “Its great to see them having fun because they were focused all week. They did a great job in practice.”
In just his second season at the helm Arbet has already won more games than the previous four seasons combined.
Cabrillo will finish off the regular season on Nov. 10 at Monterey Peninsula College.
Kickoff is set for 6 p.m.
Cabrillo outperformed its opponents in virtually every facet of the game.
For every yard the Blue Devils (3-6, 2-3) gained, the Seahawks picked up more than double. The latter finished with 502 yards of offense.
Coming into the game Merced and running back WR Sanders had one of the top ranked rushing attacks in the American Golden Coast Conference. They limped out of Aptos with less than 75 percent of their usual production.
“He was big, he was strong, he was fast,” said Eliel Ehimar, a sophomore defensive lineman from Katy, Texas. “We didn’t really see that. We saw another body we wanted to put licks on.”
Ehimar notched two sacks, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.
Wide receiver Kameron Pleasant had four catches for 92 yards and found the end zone for his sixth touchdown of the season. The big wide out from Detroit currently ranks third in the state in touchdown receptions and fifth in receiving yards with 577.
Running back Cole Davis needed only seven touches to rack up 116 rushing yards. He scored a touchdown on a 64-yard scamper in the second quarter. Davis leads the state in yards per attempt, and ranks third in total rushing yards and rushing yards per game.
The suffocating defense led by assistant head coach/defensive coordinator Justin Hansen had an absolute field day against an offensive line that looked befuddled and overwhelmed. His defense haunted the opposing backfield making nine tackles for loss, including six sacks and forcing three turnovers.
Desdamon Lake, a sophomore defensive back from Youngstown, Ohio, was seemingly everywhere. He had a game high 13 tackles and picked off a pass late to seal the win for the Seahawks.
