Owls Outmanned by Mt. SAC

Glendora, CA (Football) -- In a game featuring the #1 ranked team in Southern California (Mt. SAC) against the #4 ranked team in SoCal (Citrus), it was the Mounties who took control of the contest. Mt. SAC outmanned the Owls, nearly tripling their offensive output in a 38-14 win.

The Mounties would go on the board first midway through the first quarter on a seven yard touchdown pass from Nick Montana to Spencer Stephens. The Owls would march all the way down to the Mt. SAC eight on their next possession. Citrus turned the ball over on downs though when freshman quarterback Vincent Hernandez tried to hit freshman wideout Josh Jones in the end zone on fourth down only for the pass to be broken up by the Mounties.

The Citrus defense stood tall on the next couple of possession, but a costly turnover late in the second quarter turned the tide of the game. The Mounties' defensive line would wreak havoc on the Owls all game long, and no play was more evident than when they hounded freshman quarterback Bernard Porter into throwing the ball away as he was being sacked, only for it to be ruled a fumble that the Mounties would pick up and take to the house. The score would make it 14-0, and after that it was all Mt. SAC.

Mt. SAC added another score before the end of the half when a big punt return after the Owls were caught deep in their own territory, gave the Mounties the ball on Citrus' 20 yard line. A few plays later, Mt. SAC found the end zone again with just three seconds left in the second quarter, a score that made it 21-0 going into the half.

The Owls would hold Mt. SAC to just a field goal in the third quarter, but the Mounties added two more TD's in the fourth. Citrus would score twice in the fourth quarter as well, an 11 yard pass from Porter to sophomore wide receiver Isaiah Kepley and the other a 22 yard pass from Porter to sophomore JoJo Curiel. By then though, it was too little to late as Citrus fell by 24.

Porter would end the day completing 24 of his 37 passes for 209 yards and those two touchdowns. Porter along with Hernandez were sacked a combined eight times in the loss. Freshman Scott Calles caught a game high eight balls for 78 yards, while Curiel hauled in six for 41 yards and the TD.

On the defensive side of the ball, freshman Maurice Dupleasis led the Owls with a game high 11 tackles, including one for a loss, to go along with a hurry. Sophomore Rodney Mathews had nine tackles (seven solo) and a break-up.

With the loss, the Owls fall to 3-1 on the year and 0-1 in National Division Central Conference games. Citrus will have a bye this next week before resuming play at home on Saturday October 6th when they host Chaffey College in a non-conference contest. Kick-off is set for 1:00 PM.