Fighting Owl Football Closes Book on 2018

Citrus Football wrapped up its 2018 campaign Saturday at the Western State Bowl vs Chaffey College on Saturday. Chaffey won the contest 51-21.

Citrus struggled to find its rhythm in what was their second bowl game appearance since 2013, and subsequently recorded its lowest total yardage offensively of the year. The defense was also slightly out of sync, as the the Owls allowed the most total yards by an opponent in 2018. But nonetheless the Owls put up a good fight against the Panthers, who were firing on all cylinders on both sides of the ball. 

Citrus was able to put together a decent air game, posting total yardage of 211 in that category, but the run game had difficulty penetrating the stellar Chaffey defense, and only posted 14 yards, its lowest of the year. Quarterback Austin Zavala put up his best numbers of the season, completing 19 of 33 for 193 yards and 2 TD's. Dennis Patrick Jr and Dexter Hunt, Jr. each posted a TD on the receiving end, and James Brown added another 6 on the ground to round out the scoring for the Owls. Defensively, Henry Karimu sacked the quarterback twice and Joseph Castillo and DJ Allen both recorded 7 total tackles on the day. 

Citrus ends its season 7-4 overall and with a conference record of 4-1, the strongest season performance since 2013 for the Owls, and a huge turnaround from last year's 3-7, 2-3 effort. Citrus ended the season 2nd in conference and ranked highly in the state in rushing and defense. 

Tight end Dexter Hunt, Jr. was awarded Player of the Game for Citrus. 

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