Turnovers and Penalties Doom Owls in Opener

Glendora, CA -- The Citrus College Football team opened up their 2015 campaign on Saturday night inside Citrus Stadium against pre-season #24 Palomar College. The Owls gave the ball up four times, and committed 120 yards worth of penalties, two things that ultimately doomed them in their 14-24 loss to the Comets.

Things got off to an ominous start for the Owls when they turned the ball over via a fumble just three plays into the very first possession of the game deep in their own territory. The Comets made them pay, but nearly as bad as they likely could have, when Palomar put up the first points on the board via a 39 yard field goal attempt just 2:34 into the contest.

The Owls settled in, on their next possession though and after three straight positive plays, freshman quarterback Brian Meyette found freshman Andre Long all alone along the visiting sideline, hitting him in stride for an easy 66 yard score that put Citrus up 6-3, after a missed extra point.

Unfortunately for Citrus, that would be the last time they led. Palomar would go on to score the next two strikes in the game, recording a touchdown on a botched Citrus punt in the Owls' own end zone, and then making it 17-6 after the Comets needed to only earn 30 yards thanks to a 44 yard punt return to set Palomar up.

After the back-to-back special teams let downs, Citrus rallied. Freshman Lawon Carney picked up 14 yards on the ground, and Meyette completed back to back passes to sophomores Brayton Newton and Christian Beltran. After another Carney carry, Meyette hooked up with freshman Gino Mastandrea for a 24 yard pass and catch that made it 17-14, after Citrus converted the two-point attempt when Meyette found Beltran again, this time in the back of the end zone.

Two possessions later, Citrus had a great chance to take the lead headed into the locker room, when they march all the way down to the Palomar 14. Things backfired quickly though, as a false start penalty, unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, and a sack pushed Citrus back into their territory, effectively ending the drive and threat before the end of the first half.

In the second half, Palomar promptly marched 74 yards down the field and put another touchdown on the board, for arguably their best and really last good offensive drive of the game. The score put the Comets on top 24-14, and neither team scored for the rest of the second half.

Citrus had its chances in that final 30 minutes of game action. After Palomar's score, the Owls drove all the way down to the Comet 16 yard line, but a 32 yard field goal attempt sailed just a smidge right. Citrus would reach the border of the red zone again in the early in the fourth quarter, when a pass from Meyette to Mastandrea for that went for 26 yards put the ball on the Palomar 20. A false start, holding penalty, and three straight incomplete passes that saw two passes flat out dropped negated all of that though and the Owls elected to punt from the Palomar 38 facing 4^th and 28, practically sealing Citrus' fate with 10:23 to go.

In the loss, Meyette finished a respectable 32 of 52 for 344 yards, for a pair of touchdowns. Long and Beltran were Meyette's most frequent targets as each hauled in five catches a piece, Long for 95 yards and a score, Beltran for 69 yards.

On the defensive side of the ball, Citrus battled holding Palomar to under 200 yards passing and under 100 yards rushing, while racking up six sacks. Sophomore's Dillon Fink and Brandon Hayashi paced that effort as each came up with a game high 12 tackles. Hayashi added half a sack  and a hurry, while Fink had three sacks, four tackles for a loss, and a hurry in the game.

With the loss, Citrus drops to 0-1 on the season. The Owls will hit the road next weekend when they take on College of the Canyons, who are coming off a huge victory over defending State Champs Mt. San Antonio College, in Santa Clarita. Kick-off is set for 6:00 PM.