Grossmont Takes Heartbreaker from Citrus

Citrus College led for most of the game, but Grossmont College scored in the final minute of action to grab a heartbreaking 42-39 victory over the Owls.

The Owls – who sit at No. 18 on the CCCSIA Poll and No. 24 on the Coaches' Poll – drop to 2-1 on the year while the Griffins improve to 1-1.

Citrus finished with 387 passing yards and 129 rushing yards for 516 yards of total offense.

Adam Urena was 29-for-47 with one touchdown pass and 372 yards.

Defensively, Darren Mercer grabbed one of Grossmont's two interceptions and returned it for 30 yards. Citrus saw sacks from Kendall Henderson and Randal Fertig.

Citrus jumped out to a 16-0 lead after two one-yard touchdowns from Rene Zaldivar and Trent Young before Jacob Ray drove in a 21-yard field goal.

Grossmont got on the board with just two minutes left before halftime, but the Owls responded right back.

Jeremiah Flores came up big for the Owls just before halftime, snatching a long pass from Urena over his defender's head in the endzone for a touchdown. Dru Thompson then caught the two-point try to up Citrus' lead to 24-7 at the break.

Grossmont came out of halftime determined to turn the game around and did just that, scoring back-to-back touchdowns to pull within three points, 24-21.

Trent Young ran in a three-yard touchdown to put the Owls back up by double-digits, 31-21, but the Griffins came knocking again and scored on their next drive, 31-28. Grossmont took over the lead with eight minutes left in the fourth to up the ante.

Citrus took over the ball with just under three minutes left on the clock and two plays later, Kasmir Dina scored with Zaldivar catching the two-point conversion to give the Owls back the lead, 39-35.

There was too much time on the clock, however, as Grossmont put together a 70-yard drive in 90 seconds to take back the lead, 42-39.

With just 30 seconds left before time expired, Urena found Isaiah Espinosa for 20 yards to put the Owls in the Griffins' territory, but Citrus couldn't get into the endzone to end the game in heartbreaking fashion.

Citrus heads to Pasadena City College next week with a 6:00 p.m. kick-off time on Sept. 25.