Citrus Downs Canyons for Second Consecutive Bowl Game Victory

No. 12-ranked Citrus College put an exclamation point on its season with a 42-13 victory over No. 13-ranked College of the Canyons to win the Western State Bowl Saturday night.

The Owls end the year with an 8-3 record and their second-straight bowl-game victory, while the Cougars finish the season at 6-5 on the year.

Citrus finished with 362 total offensive yards, including 103 yards passing and 259 yards rushing.

Defense also came up big for the Owls as they forced five fumbles and recovered all five of them. The Owls also had two interceptions for a total of 29 yards, including a pick-six from

Leonard Adams to all but seal the victory for Citrus.

Koy Riggin went 15-for-22 with one touchdown thrown, with Julian Walker getting on the end of that for 24 yards.

Tayvonne Miller had 14 carries for 123 yards and scored two touchdowns, while Kannon Katzer had 20 carries for 109 yards and also scored two touchdowns.

Defensively, Jonathan Calderon grabbed an interception and fumble recovery, while Robert Waters recovered two fumbles for the Owls, who also saw Chandler Carthan and Dominic Garcia recover the ball for Citrus.

Carthan also posted 12 tackles, including nine solo efforts – which is the fifth-most in a single game for the Owls. Cody Stordahl, Xaviar Black, and Drew Merrill each finished with five tackles, while Tim Williams had four tackles and two breakups.

Citrus came out fired up and scored 21 unanswered points to jump in front early and never looked back.

Walker ran in a three-yard pass in the Owls' first possession of the game, before Katzer ran in one of his touchdowns early in the second. Miller extended the lead to 21-0 with a big 64-yard touchdown run to put the Owls into halftime with a 21-6 lead.

Citrus didn't let up from there and after the Cougars fumbled in their own territory on their first possession of the drive, Carthan recovered it to put the Owls back on the attack. Miller then ran in an 18-yard touchdown and Kosuke Kayahara (6-for-6 PAT attempts) knocked in the extra point.

Canyons got back on offense, but Garcia forced a fumble and recovered it for the Owls on the Cougars' second play of the drive to turn the ball back over to the Owls. Three plays later, Katzer ran in his second touchdown of the game.

The Cougars managed to break through early in the fourth, but Adams' pick-six sealed the 42-13 victory for the Owls.

Following the game, Katzer was named the Citrus Player of the Game, while Miller was named the Western State Bowl Most Valuable Player.