Church boys give 'em hell

By Michael Ashcraft --

Usually football players are like piano movers, but Jo Neos is a piano player delicately chiming out sweet songs to Jesus. On Sunday at church, he gives 'em Heaven.

On Saturday on the gridiron, he gives 'em Hell.

"I love the physicality of football. It definitely gives me a chance to express another side to my personality," Jo says. "To wage war with your team and go out and take some hits and give some hits, it's definitely something I like in my life."

Running back Josiah Neos completed two third-down receptions and two touch downs to award Santa Monica College the W against Orange Coast College in an away game. The Corsairs won 29-22 in a game that saw the Pirates give away the game with penalties.

Last week, it was an undisciplined SMC that roughed the kicker and committed other blunders to give away its shot at winning against Pasadena College. This week, SMC was careful while Orange Coast was careless, giving away a total of 165 yards through a mind-boggling 18 infractions.

The Pirates had a formidable running game, while the Corsairs countered with a passing game.

After an 83-yard drive, Santa Monica opened the score sheet with a touch down run in by Hassan Biggus. Later in the quarter, Tariq Brown caught a 10-yard pass to make it 13-0.

Orange Coast countered with their own touch down that quarterback J.D. Rafkin ran in from a yard out to bring the score to 15-6.

In the second half, Orange Coast nearly leveled after an 84-yard drive, bringing the score to 15-13.

Then Jo struck, and it was 22-13.

Orange Coast responded with a stunning 41-yard field goal in the fourth quarter.

Jo again ran in a touchdown to keep Santa Monica out of reach with a 29-16 scoreline after the Corsairs managed a successful string of plays for a long drive.

No Jo, no mojo. The church boy rained down hellfire and brimstone upon his enemies.

A last Orange Coast TD was not enough.

Josiah Neos is the son of Dartmouth University legend George Neos, twice All-Ivy selection for outside linebacker and captain of the championship 1992 team. His brothers, Spencer Neos and Matthias Neos also play for SMC. His cousin, Marcus Scribner, is another running back.

They all attend Lighthouse Church in Santa Monica, along with fellow wide receiver Levi Photenhauer, where they're all mild-mannered, well-dressed gentlemen. Put in them in pads and these church boys become churlish beasts.

Michael Ashcraft teaches journalism at the Lighthouse Christian Academy in Santa Monica. Due to a scheduling confusion, he missed the game (yikes!) and had to conjecture the re-telling of the game based on Orange Coast's recap. (Thanks, Orange Coast!). Mike had an old game schedule which said start time was 6:00 p.m. It actually started at 1:00 p.m. So when he pulled up, there were no cars in the parking lot and no noise from the stadium. So he went to a Raising Cane's, which he had wanted to try after hearing hype, and did a Raising Cane's review instead.