Eagle Football Earns Big Road Win at Citrus

The MSJC football team earned a hard-fought road win on Saturday as they traveled to Glendora and came away with a 21-16 victory over Citrus.

The Eagles fell behind at the end of the first quarter 3-0 as both defenses made it hard to move the ball down the field.  In the second, Logan Gonzalez capped off a 7 play 63-yard drive when he found Brye Lighon on a 28-yard touchdown pass to get the Eagles on the board with 6:36 to go before halftime giving MSJC a 7-3 lead.  Citrus answered with a methodical 13 play drive down the field to reclaim the lead with 1:55 to play in the 2nd period 10-7, but there were fireworks left before the break.  On the ensuing kickoff Donte Sams returned the ball 90 yards for an MSJC touchdown and the Eagles were back on top 14-10.  Citrus however, responded one more time kicking a field goal with 11 seconds to play to make the halftime score 14-13 in favor of the Eagles.

The second half was a defensive battle as neither team could find any points in the third period.  Midway through the 4th Citrus regained the lead on a 34-yard field goal that gave the Owls a 16-14 advantage.  The Eagles were forced to punt on their next possession and the Owls had a chance to put the game out of reach.  MSJC's defense, who had already picked off two passes on the day, came up big once again when Issac Brown made an interception giving the Eagles the ball at the Citrus 38-yard line with just over 5 minutes to play in the game.  Four plays later Gonzalez hooked up with Jackson Weng on a 16-yard TD pass to give MSJC the lead back at 21-16.  MSJC's defense shut the door on the Owls on their final two drives to secure the victory.

Jonah Sellers, Lakion Fowler, and Brown each had a sack in the win for the Eagle defense.  Brown, Tyson Roberts, and Aswut Alvarez each had an interception.  Brown was also the top tackler on the night for MSJC with 9, while DeShawn Brooks made 8 stops.

On offense Gonzalez finished the night 17 of 34 passing for 215 yards with a pair of TDs, while Daniel Mendoza was the top rusher for the Eagles with 39 yards.  Koa Apana made 5 catches in the game for 57 yards and Christian Kretz caught 3 passes for a team high 60 yards.

The Eagles are now 1-1 on the season and will be back at home for their next two games.  Saturday September 21st MSJC will host Moorpark at 6 pm in Menifee at HCN Bank Stadium, on the 28th the Eagles will host Fullerton.  Get your tickets online at Home Town Ticketing.  https://msjcathletics.com/general/Tickets