Eagle Football Wraps Up Season on High Note

The MSJC football team played their final game of the season on Saturday night at HCN Bank Stadium and came away with a 16-13 win over visiting Saddleback.

The game started quickly as Saddleback fumbled on their first play from scrimmage, giving the Eagles the ball at the Bobcat 35 yard line.  Nine plays later Zach Zella hit Tevita Hailalilo on a 5 yard touchdown pass to give MSJC the early 7-0 lead.  Saddleback would answer mid-way through the first when the managed a 30 yard field goal to cut the lead to 7-3.  The Bobcats then got within one point in the second period on their second field goal of the day.  The Eagles regained the momentum headed to halftime as they put together a 10 play 70 yard drive that resulted in a 34 yard field goal by Mason Krause as time expired to lead 10-6 at the break.

In the third quarter Krause pushed the lead to 13-6 when he connected on a 31 yard field goal, his three points were the only three of the period.  Krause then added a third field goal with 7:55 to play in the game, this time from 45 yards out and MSJC led 16-6.  Saddleback gave themselves a chance with 4:03 remaining when they scored their only TD of the day to cut the lead to three.  The MSJC defense came through in the closing moments to preserve the victory.

Zella concluded the game 20 of 31 passing for 167 yards, Elijah Simley caught 5 passes for 87 yards while Koa Apana also had 5 grabs.  Christian Kretz and Matthew Caldera had 3 receptions each.  Caldera also was solid on the ground as he rushed for 94 yards in the game on 30 carries.

Tyrone Oloa led a strong defensive effort with 10 total tackles and 2 and 1/2 sacks,, Tyler Martin had 9 stops including 2 for negative yardage.  DeShawn Brooks recorded 8 tackles, two for loss and had a fumble recovery.  Carsten Mamaril also recovered a fumble for the Eagles and Jahy Osuna knocked down a pair of passes on the line for MSJC.

The win gave MSJC an overall record of 4-6 on the season, they went 4-3 in the National Division Southern League.  The Eagles won four of their final five games of the season.