The San Diego Mesa College Olympians lost to Glendale College 31-19 on Saturday Sept. 15 at Merrill-Douglas Stadium. Glendale rushed out to an early lead behind a field goal and a touchdown. Mesa made their first sustained drive of the night in the middle of the 2nd quarter. Long runs by running back Erik Herrera and a completion to tight end Franci Robledo-Yanez were keys to the Olympians scoring drive. The Touchdown brought the score to 10-6 as Mesa failed the point after attempt. The Mesa defense came up with a momentum swinging play in the waning moments of the 2nd quarter with an interception by cornerback Shamir Lipscomb. The Olympians then drove the ball deep into Glendale territory with solid runs by Steven Okidi. On 2nd and goal quarterback Joe Kennedy found wide receiver Cruz Navarro in the end zone to give Mesa a 12-10 lead going into halftime. Penal;ties were aplenty during the game especially in the 3rd quarter. Mesa had a significant gain on a punt return negated by a holding call. The same trend of sloppy play can be said for their next few series, which put an end to positive drives. Unfortunately for Mesa, Glendale’s Colin Keoshian began to play well. Keoshian rumbled for 88 yards for a Glendale touchdown to give them a 17-12 lead in the middle of the third quarter. A botched punt to go with another costly penalty against Mesa gave Glendale excellent field position at the Olympians 22 yard line. In what was the biggest play of the night for Mesa, cornerback Nick Herring intercepted a pass in the end zone and returned 96 words for a touchdown. However the score was reversed when Mesa was called for a block in the back. The Olympians were flagged 15 times for 136 yards. Head Coach Henry Browne said of the penalties, ” it ncomes down to decision making as it happens at every level of football. Hidden yardage really adds up and hurts our momentum, we had plenty of chances it’s just we need to make better choices.” At the end of the third quarter it remained 17-12 Glendale. As the fourth quarter opened up another mistake by the Olympians gave Glendale the upper hand. A fumbled punt return by cornerback Jeremy Hutchinson inside Mesa’s 20 yard line put the Olympians at a disadvantage. This time the defense was unable to cause a turnover as Glendale scored again. The touchdown increased the lead to 24-12. The Olympians although down,continued to fight back admirably. Quaterback Joe Kennedy found wide receiver Jay Waddell for a 40 yard gain down to the Glendale 1 yard line. Mesa then proceeded to score an an end around by running back Steven Okidi making it 24-19. Colin Keoshian who was a thorn in the side for Mesa all night. Keoshian continued his impressive night by picking up continous first downs including a fourth down conversion in the 4th quarter. He then ultimately put the game out of reach with his 3rd touchdown of the night. Coach Browne gave the talented running back his due,” that guy was just too good that day; the key is to eliminate the big runs, if we did that we would have controlled this game.” Although the Mesa Olympians lost the game to Glendale and are 1-2 the future for this team looks bright. Two of the team’s standout players are quarterback Joe Kennedy and running back Steven Okidi.Although only a freshman,Kennedy manages the game well and plays mistake free football. Coach Browne states, “Joe has played well and he will do nmothing but get better.” The man he hands the ball off to also receives high praise from Coach Browne. ” Steven was an 1100 yard rusher for us before he got injured with a lateral meniscus. He is a hard runner, shows great determination and is a great leader.” Quarterback Joe Kennedy sees progress and setbacks with this team. ” We as a team improved since our last loss to Grossmont. There are still too many mental errorsw, we need to be sharper.” His running back Steven Okidi feels the same, “I feel we can always do better, we need more intensity, fire and anger.” With these two players leading the way, Mesa football is in good hands and will look to achieve a successful season. Mesa’s next home game is Sept.29 at 6p.m.