Pierce Defense Keys 14-12 Victory

The West Los Angeles College football team is nicknamed the Oilers. If only they had a Warren Moon or a Lorenzo White to go with the moniker, they might be able to score a little more like their namesake, the Houston Oilers.

Instead, West L.A. is woeful offensively. The Oilers, ranked 10th in the 12-team Western State Conference in offense, continued to have problems Saturday night at Pierce, where the Brahmas forced five turnovers and held on for a 14-12 Southern Division victory.

Pierce (5-3, 4-3 in conference play, 2-1 in division play) is no offensive giant itself, ranking ninth in the WSC.

To make matters worse for West L.A., the Oilers (2-6, 2-5, 0-3) were without injured kicker Aaron Solinger and were forced to go for two-point conversions after both touchdowns. Both attempts failed, and it proved to be the difference.

Pierce took a 14-6 lead on a three-yard touchdown run by Erik Thomas to open the fourth period, then turned it over to the defense to make the lead stand up. The Oilers, however, drove to the potential tying touchdown on the ensuing series when Damon Williams threw a 15-yard scoring pass to Del Vaughn Alexander.

Pierce stopped running back James Henderson inches shy of the end zone on the conversion try to maintain a two-point advantage with 9 minutes 27 seconds remaining.

West L.A. had another chance in the final two minutes, but the Brahma defense, ranked fifth in the WSC, forced the Oilers to turn the ball over on downs at the Pierce 36 with 55 seconds left.

Thomas led the Brahmas with 128 yards in 20 carries.

Pierce managed 236 yards against the WSC’s second-ranked defense, and quarterback Cesar Parra completed only two of 10 passes for 23 yards and threw three interceptions.

The Brahma defense was on the field most of the first half, lining up for 20 more plays than the Oilers. Pierce turned away West L.A. twice inside the Brahma five-yard line and once inside the 15.

Pierce scored the only points of the first half after Leon Glasgow intercepted a pass in the end zone and returned it to the Brahma 13. Pierce drove to the Oiler 24, where Ken Herbs took a handoff, was hit by a tackler, bounced free and raced around the right side for a touchdown. Fernando Garcia’s kick gave the Brahmas a 7-0 lead with 4:07 left in the first period.

Glasgow had another interception just before halftime, and Kesa Harding picked off a pass in the second period. Joey Tushnet added a fourth interception for Pierce.