MSJC Football Wins American Division Championship

The MSJC football team put together a big defensive effort on Saturday afternoon as they held Antelope Valley to six points on their way to a 17-6 win in the Hemet Sportsman's Club American Championship Bowl at Carl Quandt Stadium.

The Eagles scored the first 14 points of the game and never gave up the lead as they won their first ever American Division Championship, finishing the season 9-1 on the field.  The Eagles who were co-champions of the American Mountain Division beat AVC, the champions of the American Pacific Division for the second time this season to claim the crown.

Saturday the Eagles scored midway through the firs quarter when Taliq Brown had a 19 yard TD reception from Devan Freedland, the extra point gave MSJC the 7-0 lead at the end of one period.  The Eagles then put together a long 12 play 87 yard drive to push the lead to 14-0 on a 24 yard run from Sherod White.  The Eagle defense set up the score by intercepting an AVC pass at the Eagle four yard line.  Hunter Rapolla made the interception to keep AVC out of the end zone on what turned out to be the only turnover of the day by AVC.  The MSJC defense continued their dominance into half as the Eagles went to the break up 14-0.

Antelope Valley's only score of the game came with 5:32 to play in the third when Carlos Hill scored on a 31 yard pass from Caden Hinton.  The exta point was no good and MSJC held on to a 14-6 lead after three periods.  The Eagles pushed the lead to 11 with 9:30 to play when Nick Sabilla connected on a 22 yard field goal to cap off a 13 yard 75 yard drive.

The Eagle offense was held well below their average of 515 yards per game, but still managed 370 total yards, while MSJC's defense held AVC under 300 yards for the game.

Sherod White, who was named the game's MVP, rushed for 60 yards and and added 83 more receiving.  Cayden Chambers pulled in a team high 5 catches for 71 yards and Brown had 4 receptions for 60.  The quarterback duo of Freedland and Robert Coleman ended their stand out seasons by combining to go 16 for 32 throwing for 242 yards, Coleman added 31 yards on the ground while Freedland had two crucial first down runs.

On defense Kelvin Davis earned Defensive Player of the Game honors after recording 11 total tackles, 8 solo and 3 assists.  Nathan Ortiz was next for MSJC with 9 total tackles and Michael Erim put his stamp on the game with 7 tackles and 2 sacks.  The Eagle secondary was also strong as they combined for 7 pass break ups.

The win puts a bow on a huge season for MSJC as they claimed their first conference title since 1999 and now claim their first bowl win under Head Coach Casey Mazzotta who is in his 14th season at the helm.