Opposites Attract a Win for Football

Long Beach, CA -- All season long, the Citrus College Football team's strength on the offensive side of the ball had been its passing game. That wouldn't be the case on Saturday afternoon at Long Beach City College as the opposite attracted a win for Citrus. The Owls gained more yards on the ground than they did through the air in a 43-24 win over the Vikings.

Things started off slowly through the first 20 minutes of the contest as Citrus was held to just three points in that stretch, a 52 yard field goal off the foot of sophomore Isaiah Kepley that broke a school record. That's all they would get early on though as they faced a 10-3 hole midway through the second quarter.

Citrus finally turned things around when sophomore Phillip Sainz took the second play of a drive 64 yards to the house in what was to that point the longest rush of the year for an Owl. After giving up two early scores to the Vikings, the Citrus defense began to click on all cylinders as they held Long Beach scoreless until late in the third.

With the defense rolling, the offense finally put Citrus back on top when freshman quarterback Bernard Porter capped off a nine play 56 yard drive when he connected with fellow frosh Scott Calles from 18 yards out to make it 17-10 just before the half.

In the second half, the Owls' defense put Citrus back on the board with their second safety in as many weeks. Moments later, Porter found sophomore wide receiver Josh Jones for a 14 yard strike that put Citrus up 26-10. Citrus wasn't done scoring as sophomore JoJo Curiel got in on the act when he took a punt return 61 yards to the end zone to make it 33-10.

Long Beach finally broke through against the stout Owls D with just over a minute to go in the third quarter and again late in the fourth, but a 24 yard field goal from Kepley and then a 75 yard rushing touchdown, which eclipsed Sainz's earlier run, from freshman Donovan Holmes put the game away for good late and made it 43-24.

Sainz would finish the day with 16 total carries for 112 total yards, the most rushing yards for a Citrus running back since Brandon Stansell ran for over 130 yards back in 2010 also against Long Beach City College. Porter took care of business running the offense, completing 17 of his 28 passes for 163 yards 2 TD's and more importantly, no picks.

As a team the Owls rushed for 240 yards, and averaged 6.3 yards per carry. It was the highest team rushing total for Citrus since they gained 309 yards against Long Beach City back in 2010. Their toughness on the ground, helped them win the time of possession battle on Saturday, holding on to the ball for nearly three minutes longer than the Vikings.

On the defensive side of the ball, freshman Dorrin Turner led the way with a team high eight tackles and a pass break-up. Sophomore Rodney Mathews added six, including one for a loss. Freshman Chris Nagy also had six tackles, but added a forced fumble and a quarterback hurry to his resume.

With the win, Citrus improves to 7-2 on the year and 3-2 in Central Conference play. It's Citrus' first foray into seven win territory since 2007. The Owls will close out their regular season next Friday when they host LA Harbor College. Kick-off is set for 6:00 PM in Citrus Stadium.