Glendora, CA (Football) -- After a slow start to Saturday’s opener against West Los Angeles College, the Citrus College Football team turned to its ground game to get things going, and it worked as Citrus amassed 205 yards rushing (more than any game for the Fighting Owls last season) in a 36-25 win for Citrus.
The Fighting Owls struggled out the gate as West LA jumped out to a 9-0 lead, while the offense sputtered. Freshman starting quarterback Blake Loncar came up empty in each of his first seven attempts, and didn’t complete his first pass of the game until just over 10 minutes were left in the second quarter.
With the passing game working out its first game jitters, Citrus turned to its rushing game to open things up. The Citrus offensive line ground the Wildcats defense into submission as the Fighting Owls rushed for 144 yards rushing in the first half, getting big gains on the ground by the three headed monster of Sophomore Brandon Stansell and Freshmen Ricky Johnson and Michael Boyd.
Citrus’ first score would come early in the 2nd quarter when sophomore kicker Eric De Lira booted a 41-yard attempt through the uprights. Things continued positively for Citrus on their next possession, and as the running attack softened up the West LA defense, things began to open up for Loncar. Loncar’s first completion was a 16 yard strike to Johnson who took it into the end zone to give the Fighting Owls a 10-9 lead.
After the Citrus defense forced a turnover on the next West LA possession, Loncar hooked up with Adrienne Hatley who had one on one coverage on the outside. Hatley made the lone defender pay dearly as he caught Loncar’s pass in the end zone for a 20 yard score. The score would give Citrus a 16-9 lead after the extra point was blocked, but it didn’t last long as West LA scored on a 36 yard touchdown pass and catch from Spencer Phillips to Tanqueray Towns knotting up the score at 16 at the half.
Citrus came out the half and picked up right where they left off offensively as Loncar connected with Brian Martinez for a 54 yard touchdown catch. West LA would come back with a field goal late in the third quarter, but Citrus proved too much in the fourth as they scored twice, once on a Loncar to Zaragoza 27 yard score and the other on an 11 yard Michael Boyd touchdown scamper. West LA scored once more before the horn sounded, but by then the game was well out of reach.
After starting out 0 for his first 7 attempts, Loncar completed 18 of his next 22 passes to finish 18 of 29 for 282 Yards and four touchdowns. Stansell would be Citrus’ leading rusher as he carried the ball 18 times for 129 yards, while Roshon Morris was the Fighting Owls’ leading receiver, catching three passes for 51 yards. Most importantly, the offense didn’t turn the ball over at all during its first 48 minutes of play in 2010.
Though it wasn’t their best performance, the defense did enough to get the win. The Fighting Owls recorded two takeaways in Saturday’s game and were led by Robert Horn’s 11 tackles, including one for a loss.
The Fighting Owls will get next week off before resuming their 2010 campaign on Saturday September 18th at Canyons College. Kick-off is set for 7:00 PM in Santa Clarita.
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