Owls Upset By Chaffey

Rancho Cucamonga, CA -- The Citrus College football team looked nothing like the Owls football team that had positioned itself as one of the top teams in Southern California for three of four quarters on Saturday evening. Citrus turned the ball over three times, and was simply outplayed by their host Chaffey College, in a 24-13 upset by the Panthers.

The Owls started off slow. Their first play from scrimmage was a 14 yard run by freshman Emmanuel Pooler, but after that it was downhill. Citrus went three and out on back to back drives after that, and freshman quarterback Larry Cutbirth started off 0 for 4, and didn't complete a pass until Citrus' fourth drive of the game.

Meanwhile Chaffey jumped all over the slow start by Citrus. The Panthers marched all way down inside the Citrus red zone on their first possession, but came up empty when sophomore Jesus Vargas blocked their 25 yard field goal attempt. On their second drive, they would march back down into the red zone and this time wouldn't be denied when they converted a 30 yard field goal to go up 3-0.

The Owls rallied shortly thereafter with back to back scores. The first a culmination of an eight play 55 yard drive that was punctuated by a seven yard touchdown run by Pooler.  The second score came at the tail end of a 10 play 67 yard drive that ate up over three minutes of clock, and was ended when Cutbirth scampered into the end zone from nine yards out. That score put the Owls up 13-10, a lead they would hold headed into the half, but it would also be the last score by Citrus for the rest of the game.

In the second half, the Owls fell apart offensively. Cutbirth, who had yet to turn over the ball through his first four games, was harassed into three interceptions by the Panthers who kept him on his heals for what seemed like the entire final two quarters. Chaffey meanwhile made big plays when it mattered most. The Panthers would score with 34 seconds left in the third quarter and then at the beginning of the fourth, capitalizing on one of those interceptions when they scored on a 35 yard pass and catch to the wide open left side of the field.

Citrus would have a couple of chances late. On their first drive in the fourth quarter, the Owls moved the ball all the way into Chaffey territory, but sack and negative rush after 1st and 10 on the Chaffey 43 turned into 3rd and 29 from the Citrus 38. The Owls almost pulled it out, but a bomb to freshman Dane Cruikshank down the middle of the field just couldn't be reeled in.

The Owls would also drive all the way to the Chaffey 12 with just under three minutes to go, but the Owls stalled out. Citrus tried to attempt a 39 yard field goal to cut their deficit to eight with just over two minutes to go was blocked ending the game and any hope of Citrus putting together a comeback.

Cutbirth finished the day 12 of 29 for 151 yards. Cutbirth also rushed for 49 yards on 21 attempts. Pooler ended up with 62 yards on 14 carries, while sophomores Scott Calles and Charles Johnson each hauled in three passes for 33 and 22 yards respectively.

On the defensive side of the ball, sophomore Maurice Dupleasis paced Citrus with a game high 12 tackles, including a half a sack, two for a loss, a break-up and a hurry. Sophomore Darius Andres had 10 tackles that included two more for a loss. Sophomore Jesus Vargas rounded out the Citrus defensive effort with five total tackles, a sack, and a tackle and a half for a loss. Vargas also blocked that first field goal attempt by the Panthers.

With the loss Citrus falls to 3-2 on the year. While the loss certainly is a setback in the rankings, it doesn't really affect the Owls' playoff chances as it wasn't a conference contest. Citrus will try and shake off the back to back losses as they resume National Division Central Conference play next Saturday at home against College of the Desert. Kick-off is set for 1:00 PM