Owls Snap Losing Skid With Win at Bakersfield

Glendora, CA -- After a rough 0-5 start that saw Citrus blow four late leads in five of those losses, the Citrus College football team was finally on the opposite end of those suffering. The Owls scored a pair of touchdowns in the fourth quarter and overcame a 14-10 deficit to post a 24-14 victory over the host Renegades.

You couldn't have asked for a better start on Saturday night as Citrus marched 74 yards in 13 plays on it's very first possession finding the end zone when freshman quarterback Brian Meyette completed a six yard pass to freshman Gino Mastandrea. That would be the last score though by Citrus until the fourth quarter.

While the offense got off to a blazing start, the defense was equally as strong, holding the Renegades scoreless over the first two quarters of action. The stout play by the defense, let Citrus' 7-0 lead hold up until early in the third quarter when Bakersfield knotted the game up 7-7.

Citrus briefly regained the lead early in the fourth when freshman kicker Luis Vasquez connected on a 20 yard field goal attempt that made it 10-7. The Renegades though took all of one play to answer when they scored on a 67 yard strike on their first play of their next possession to take their first and only lead of the game 14-10 with 11:13 to play.

Despite not finding pay dirt for the entirety of the second and third quarters, the Owls finally got things going again right after Bakersfield's big play. Citrus needed a few more plays, but they went 75 yards in five of them, going back on top 17-14 after Meyette hooked up with freshman wide receiver Zachery Fields from 15 yards out. After the defense came up with a pair of big stops, Citrus was finally able to put the game away for good when freshman running back Lawon Carney broke a 45 yard rush to the end zone for go up 24-14.

In the win, Meyette finished 18 of 24 for 182 yards and a pair of touchdown passes. Carney had 10 carries for 51 yards and the score, while the Owls force fed sophomore Robert Gonzalez to the tune of 22 carries for 83 yards. Sophomore Brayton Newton led all wide outs with six catches for 91 yards, while defensively Antonio Sparrow came up with 11 tackles including 1.5 for a loss.

With the win, Citrus improves to 1-5 on the season. The Owls will be back at home on Saturday when they resume National Division Central League play against Mt. San Antonio College. Kick-off is set for 1:00 PM inside Citrus Stadium.