A Tale of Two Halves

Walnut, CA -- For a little over 30 minutes on Saturday, the Citrus College Football team played neck and neck with host Mt. San Antonio College. The Owls were darn near even with the Mounties in the first half, but the second half was a different story as Citrus was outscored 24-3 over the final 30 minutes of play in a 41-17 loss.

Mt. SAC lit up the scoreboard first, going up 7-0 a little over eight minutes into the first quarter. Citrus answered nearly right away, scoring two plays into their next drive when sophomore quarterback Larry Cutbirth connected with freshman Patrick Smith on a 70 yard touchdown that made it 7-7. The Owls would go up 14-7 on their next drive, when the Owls needed just four plays before Cutbirth and Smith hooked up again, this time from 14 yards out.

That would be the last time, the Citrus offense would score until early in the fourth quarter, but  the Owls defense didn't let things get out of control for the remainder of the first or the second. The Mounties would indeed score in the midway through the second via a 27 yard field goal, and then took a 17-14 lead with a score with just over four minutes to play in the first half. By that time though, momentum was firmly on Mt. SAC's side as they scored three touchdowns in the third quarter, all on plays of 20 yards or more.

Sophomore Jaime Toscano's 24 yard field goal at the start of the fourth, would be Citrus' last score of the night as Mt. SAC answered with a field goal of their own with just over nine minutes to go.

In the loss, Cutbirth finished 19 of 35 for 222 yards and those two touchdowns. Smith caught seven passes for a total of 152 yards and two scores. On the defensive side of the ball, sophomore Terrance Manderville led the way with 10 tackles (seven solo), a tackle for a loss, and a break-up.

With the loss, Citrus drops to 3-4 overall and 2-1 in National Division Central League play on the year. The Owls will be back at home on Saturday when they host Chaffey College (3-3, 1-1) at 1:00 PM.