Another Late Score Fells Owls

Glendora, CA -- For the fifth time this season, the Citrus College Football team went into the fourth quarter with a lead or at least the game tied. Unfortunately for Citrus, for the fifth straight time a late score would fell the Owls, as they came up just shy of upsetting SoCal #3 Long Beach City College in a 27-33 loss.

The first half saw most of the offensive action on Saturday afternoon, with Long Beach getting on the board first via a 22 yard field goal midway through the first quarter. On the ensuing kick-off sophomore Justin Martin caught the ball at the Citrus one yard line and ran 99 yard up the right side line to put the Owls up 7-3. Long Beach answered with a long score of their own on their very next play from scrimmage, but Citrus went back on top 14-10 two possessions later when sophomore defensive lineman Julian Tyus intercepted a Viking pass at the Long Beach 41 and took it to the house.

Long Beach would respond by scoring two straight, but the Owls were undeterred. Sophomore quarterback Larry Cutbirth connected with Martin for a 78 yard catch and run that made it 21-24 before halftime. In the third quarter, Citrus briefly took the lead back when Cutbirth hit freshman Patrick Smith for a 35 yard touchdown that made it 27-24. Long Beach would get a field goal before the third quarter ended, sending the game into the fourth all knotted up at 27.

Long Beach would threaten with two consecutive drives deep into Owl territory late in the 3rd and early in the 4th. Each time though, the Owls got a big stop thanks to a pair of missed field goals by the Vikings. On Long Beach's third trip inside the red zone though, Citrus couldn't get the stop and the Vikings took a 33-27 lead with just over six minutes to go.

Citrus would answer with a strong drive of their own, but that was quickly turned away when Cutbirth was picked off at the Vikings two-yard line ending the threat, and eventually the game as Long Beach held on to the ball for the final four plus minutes of the game.

Cutbirth finished with a strong day completing 26 of his 37 attempts for 306 yards and two scores. Smith caught a team high six balls for 92 yards and the score. On defense, sophomore Marquice O'Leary broke the single game record for solo tackles with 13, throwing in eight assisted tackles, and a hurry for good measure. Freshman Sal Velasquez added 16 tackles, 13 of which were assisted.

With the loss, Citrus drops to 3-6 overall and 2-2 in Central League play. The Owls will close out the 2014 season on Saturday when they travel to Riverside City College for a 6:00 PM showdown.