Urena Sets New Owl Record in Dominating Win
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Citrus (6-0) | 14 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 31 |
|
Orange Coast (1-5) | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
Despite a bye week off last week, No. 18-ranked Citrus College didn't miss a beat Saturday with a 31-6 dominating win over Orange Coast College.
The Owls improve to 6-0 on the year and begin American Metro League with a perfect 1-0 record, marking their best start to the season. The Pirates drop to 1-5 overall and 0-1 in conference.
Citrus finished with 384 yards of total offense, including 209 passing yards led by quarterback Adam Urena. The sophomore (20-for-30) threw one touchdown pass to officially set a new program record with 46 career touchdown passes – and still has four games left in the regular season.
After a rough first drive, the Owls shook things off and scored in nine plays on their second drive after Eliljah Finney ran in a one-yard touchdown to put the visitors on the board in the first quarter. Jose Valdez tacked on an extra point to give the Owls a 7-0 lead early.
The Owl defense then got the ball right back as Drew Merrill intercepted a Pirate pass on the second play of OCC's drive.
With just over a minute left in the quarter, Jesse Carmona rushed for seven yards to give the Owls another touchdown. Once again, Valdez's point-after-touchdown attempt was good to double Citrus' lead, 14-0. Valdez created some further cushion with a 29-yard field goal before OCC scored to cut the Owls' upper hand to 17-6 at halftime.
After two running touchdowns in the first half, Urena finally broke the Citrus passing touchdown career record with a 32-yard touchdown pass to Carmona to further create some distance, 24-6.
Merrill then sealed the deal with a huge interception in the fourth. On fourth and goal at Citrus' nine-yard line, OCC tried to go for it, but Merrill snatched the ball in the endzone and took off for a 105-yard touchdown return. Valdez was a perfect 4-for-4 on PAT to secure the 31-6 victory for the Owls.
Defensively, Merrill had three tackles, two interceptions, and one breakup. Jonathan Calderon also had an interception, while Cody Stordahl, Dylan Macias, Jacob Cisneros, and Alexander Lopez all added five tackles.
Citrus returns home to host Santa Ana next Saturday, looking to keep building on its nine-game winning streak (carried over from last year). Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.