Three Out of Four

Glendora, CA -- For three out of the four quarters in Saturday night's Southern California Football Association contest between Citrus College and State #9 Golden West College, the Owls outplayed the Rustlers. Unfortunately for Citrus, the only quarter they didn't outplay their opponent was the fourth, where they Rustlers put up 22 points and rallied from a deep hole, in Citrus' 29-22 loss.

As they have in their first two games, Citrus looked good early on. The Owls were able to put together a 12 play 80 yard drive on their second possession of the game that resulted in a nine yard pass from freshman Brian Meyette to sophomore Christian Beltran that put Citrus up 6-0 early after a bad snap led to a missed extra point attempt.

The Owls defense meanwhile continue to keep Golden West on their heels and make big plays when it mattered, allowing the offense to get what it could. Citrus would add to their 6-0 lead with a 32 field goal from freshman Axl Mendoza early in the second quarter. Late in the second quarter, the offense would capitalize on a turnover forced by the defense, when sophomore Dillon Fink stripped Golden West wide receiver Jordan Veasy to put the ball back in the Owls hands on the GWC 36. Six plays later sophomore running back Steven Garcia leaped over a pile of bodies to make it 15-0 as the game went into the break.

Citrus looked like they were going to just pick up right where they left off as they came out strong in the second half. The Owls marched 71 yards over the course of 11 plays, before having the game flipped on it's head. Facing a 3rd and 7 on the Golden West 14 yard line, a swing pass out to left side by Meyette was picked off by the Rustlers and taken all the way to the Citrus end zone unabated to make it 15-7.

The Owls would answer two drives later with a nine play 58 yard drive that saw Meyette find Brayton Newton from eight yards out to make it 22-7 with 3:22 left in the third quarter. It would be the last long drive by the Citrus offense until their last of the game.

Facing a big hole in the fourth quarter, the Rustlers chipped away at the Citrus lead, using a big punt return at the end of the third to set-up positive field position early in the fourth to cut the lead to 22-14. Three possession for the Rustlers later, they were tying the game up at 22-22 thanks in large part to missed tackles and a big play in the middle of a four play 65 yard drive that say the game knotted up with 5:59 to go.

On the ensuing Owls possession, Citrus was forced into a three and out, and the subsequent punt would be disastrous. Mendoza would get off a booming 45 yard punt, but the Rustlers, fielding the ball at their own 26 would get a few blocks that sprung returner Quest Truxton loose all the way to the end zone to make it 29-22 with just over two minutes to go.

Citrus would get set-up nicely for their final possession when freshman Gino Mastandrea took the upcoming kick-off 34 yards up the field to the Golden West 49. The Owls would even take advantage of the field position, burrowing their way down to the Golden West 20, but their final two attempts at the end zone by Meyette went wide right and just too far north as Citrus fell once again by a bad fourth quarter.

Meyette would finish 24 of 40 for 172 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Freshman Lawon Carney carried the ball 16 times for the Owls for 104 yards, becoming the first Citrus running back to eclipse the century mark for the first time since Emmanuel Pooler did so as a freshman on October 18, 2013.

On the defensive side of the ball, Fink once again paced the Owl effort with 11 total tackles, including 1.5 sacks, two tackles for a loss, and a pair of forced fumbles. Sophomore Sal Velasquez added eight, including 1.5 for a loss, and a pass break-up, while freshman Michael Orantes Jr. had seven.

With the loss, Citrus drops to 0-3 on the season. The Owls will be back at home next weekend when they host El Camino College (1-2). Kick-off is set for 1:00 PM.