Thirsty No More

Mission Viejo, CA -- In the vast desert that is the California Community College Athletic Association post-season, there may be no team that suffered from a larger drought than Citrus College. The Owls were 0 for their 7 attempts and hadn't won a bowl contest since 1988, a year in which nearly all of the current Citrus Football team hadn't even been born. Citrus is no longer thirsty though, as the 2013 Owls went out and defeated Saddleback College 25-14 in the 2013 Beach Bowl, ending a 25 year dry spell.

To the surprise of many, Saturday night's contest started out as a defensive battle. Saddleback College came into the contest with one of the most high powered aerial attacks in the State, while the Owls had averaged nearly 50 points a game over its last three contests.

Still it was the defenses who came to play as both teams were shutout in the first quarter, and the first score of the game came off the foot of a kicker, when Citrus freshman Jaime Toscano booted a 40 yard try with 14:49 left in the second quarter to put Citrus up 3-0. The score would stay right there until the second half.

In the second half, the Owls finally started to gain some momentum on offense. Freshman quarterback Larry Cutbirth made plays with his legs and his arm, avoiding a sure sack on third and five in Citrus' first offensive possession, by finding freshman Emmanuel Pooler for a 38 yard catch and run off the scramble. A few plays later, Cutbirth was carrying the ball into the end zone himself, putting the Owls up 10-0.

Saddleback wasn't going to go away quietly though, as they promptly marched down the field and made it a ball game, scoring on a six yard touchdown run of their own to make it 7-10with just over five minutes left in the third quarter. Citrus' next drive would take up the rest of the third quarter, and extend into the start of the fourth, where it ended with Cutbirth taking the ball on a quarterback sneak from one yard out to put Citrus up 17-7.

On the Guachos' first play on their very next possession, the defense came up with one of their patented big plays, when sophomore defensive back Braxton Brown picked off the Saddleback quarterback on 38, taking it all the way down to the 10 yard line.

The ball would be moved back to the Saddleback 25, due to a penalty on the Owls on the return, but that didn't matter to Pooler, who took the handoff from Cutbirth on the very first play and ran into the end zone from 25 yards out to put Citrus up 25-7 after the Owls converted a two-point play on a botched snap on the extra point attempt.

Saddleback would score once more in the game, getting a touchdown with 1:38 to go, but their ensuing on-side attempt didn't go 10 yards, and the Owls ran out the clock to preserve their first bowl victory in over two decades.

Offensively, Citrus was led by Cutbirth's 22 of 33 for 236 yards. Pooler carried the ball 12 times for 52 yards and a score, while freshman DJ Gordon had eight carries for 43 yards. Sophomore wide receiver Scott Calles finished out the superlatives on that side of the ball, breaking the career receiving record with eight catches for a total of 102 yards. Cutbirth would be named the game's Most Valuable Player for his efforts on the night. 

Defensively, sophomore Derek Calderon had a big night with nine tackles, including half a tackle for a loss, and an interception. Brown was named the Citrus Defensive Player of the Game, with his four tackles and an interception.

With the win, Citrus' season closes with an 8-3 record. It's the most wins by an Owl team since the 2003 season, when Citrus won nine games.