Fighting Owls Stay Unbeaten in Conference

Citrus Football loaded up the buses Saturday and made the trek to the high desert, where they marched into Victor Valley's stadium and handedly walloped the Rams 38-7. The win marked the 5th of the season for the Fighting Owls, and the 2nd in as many tries in conference play.

The Owls continued their relentless, season-long downfield march on offense, and a fierceness on defense that has its opponents a little more than rattled. As we've come to expect, the offense piled on copious yardage both on the ground and the air game, and the defense shut down the Rams with ferocity and determination.

As a group, the Citrus ground attack amassed an impressive 313 yards. Marcus Knight, Justyn Alexander and James Brown tend to share the load on carries and yardage, but at least 3 other backs can and will contribute on any given Saturday. Knight rushed for 91 yards on 13 carries and 2 TD's, followed closely by Justyn Alexander with 66 yards on 11 carries and James Brown with 65 yards on 12 carries. Pepper in guys like Levi Harris who can take off downfield for big gains, like the 78 yard run he chipped in on Saturday, and the Owls are just plain tough to stop. 

The passing game for Citrus isn't breaking records on yardage, but the Owls are super efficient at 15.5 yards per completion in conference play. Kody Olmos and Austin Zavala, who share time in the pocket for Citrus, combined for 132 yards passing on 8 for 13 completions. Olmos connected twice for TD's, once with Major Lee on a 6 yarder and another time with Dennis Patrick Jr for a 30 yard thriller. 

On the defensive side of the ball, Citrus is just plain tough. They've only allowed a total of 13 points in conference play, and only 11.6 points, on average, all season. Saturday, Citrus terrorized the Ram offense, forcing 2 fumbles, snagging an interception, sacking the quarterback 7 times and holding the offense to 275 total yards. Joseph Castillo notched 6 solo tackles on the day, adding 2 assists to be the leader for all tacklers. Derrion Warner tabbed 5 solo tackles and a broken up pass. Ignacio Silva recorded 2.5 sacks and 5 total tackles, Henry Karimu grabbed 2 sacks, 7 total tackles and a forced fumble. 

The 2018 season has been a pleasant turnaround from the 2017 campaign, where the Owls struggled to ignite at times, and finished the year well under .500. The off season recruiting by the coaching staff and strong leadership form the returners have helped the Owls to distinguish themselves as conference contenders. They will be tested on that this weekend, as Citrus hosts San Bernardino Valley for the sole lead of the SCFA American Mountain League. Both teams enter the contest at 2-0 in conference. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:00 PM at Citrus Stadium.

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