Owls Maul Chaffey

Glendora, CA (Football) -- The Citrus College Football team, ranked #8 in Southern California, took their opening drive 73 yards in 17 plays eating up over seven minutes of clock, as they set the tone against Chaffey College on Saturday afternoon. Freshman Justin Robles took the ball on the final play of the drive scoring from one yard out, and the rest of the day went much of the same was, as the Owls mauled the visiting Panthers 54-21.

Not too long after Robles gave the Owls a 7-0 lead, Citrus was on the board again. After the defense forced a three out, the Panthers snap on the punt sailed over the punters head into the end zone. Freshman Robbie Haines jumped on the ball in the end zone giving the Owls a 14-0 advantage.

Citrus tacked on three more scores in the second quarter before Chaffey even got on the board. The first came when sophomore Andre Holmes had a three yard TD run that made it 21-0 Citrus. Five minutes later sophomore wide receiver/kicker Isaiah Kepley booted a 24 yard field goal, and less than a minute after that sophomore defensive lineman Chima Nduka picked up a Chaffey fumble at the Panthers own 10 yard line that was forced by freshman Dorrin Turner and took it to the house to make it 31-0.

Chaffey would score late in the first half to make it 31-7 going into the break, but in the second half not much changed even though much of the Owls starters rested. The Owls opened up the third quarter with another trio of scores. Kepley caught back to back TD passes one from 31 yards out and the other from 19 yards away on a double pass that sophomore wide receiver Michael Ball threw to Kepley.

Citrus would go up 47-7 before the end of the third when Chaffey was pinned deep in their own territory and fell in the end zone with freshman defensive back Steven Smith pressuring and recording the safety.

Chaffey added two more touchdowns, one at the end of the third quarter and the other early on in the fourth. The Owls' last score would come midway through the fourth when backup quarterback and freshman Vincent Hernandez escaped a sack and then sprinted 50 yards down the opposite side of the field to the end zone to make it 54-21.

Citrus outgained Chaffey 375 to 186 on the game, and held the ball for nearly ten minutes more than the Panthers. The 54 points was also the most point scored by the Owls since Citrus scored 55 points against Victor Valley back in 1991.

Freshman quarterback Bernard Porter finished his day 13 of 20 for 174 yards and a TD. Sophomore JoJo Curiel was the top Owls target on the day with a team high four catches for 80 yards. Kepley meanwhile caught three passes for 59 yards and 2 TD's. Kepley actually accounted for 22 of Citrus' 54 points with the two TD receptions, seven extra points, and the 24 yard field goal.

On the defensive side of the ball, sophomore linebacker Simon Pruitt had a team high 8 tackles, including two for a loss. Pruitt also had an interception, a pass break-up and two hurries on the day. Freshman Maurice Dupleasis had seven tackles on the day, including three for a loss.

When it came to special teams, sophomore punter Chris Laros also had a great day. Despite punting just three times, he boomed the ball for the Owls. Laros had an average of 61.7 yards per punt, including a program record 75 yarder that he booted at the end of the first half. Laros also pinned one inside the 20 yard line, and all three punts were 50 plus yards.

With the win, Citrus improves to 4-1 on the year. The Owls will be back into conference play next week when they hit the road to take on College of the Desert. Kick-off is set for 6:00 PM in Palm Desert.