Eagles Come up Just Short in Valencia Bowl

The MSJC football team took an early lead Sunday and then tried to mount a late comeback as they lost 26-21 at Canyons in the 2024 Jersey Mike's Valencia Bowl.

The Eagles got off to a fast start when the Cougars fumbled the opening kickoff on their own 29-yard line, and it was recovered by MSJC's Bryce Terhue. Seven plays later Christian Kretz found Donte Sams for an 11-yard touchdown pass and the Eagles had an early 7-0 lead. Canyons would score the only other points of the first quarter when they drove the ensuing drive into MSJC territory and made a 41-yard field goal.

The Cougars shut out the Eagles in the second period and scored17 points of their own to give themselves a 20-7 advantage at the half. COC used a pair of long TD passes and a field goal with 7 seconds to play before halftime to build the lead.

The Eagles tightened things up with just over eleven minutes left in the third quarter when Kretz scored on a 3-yard quarterback keeper to pull MSJC within six at 20-14. Canyons extended the lead back to 12 early in the fourth quarter on Joseph Saenz' second touchdown reception of the day, the extra point was no good. MSJC continued to fight on and scored a touchdown with just 43 seconds to play when Kretz hit Daniel Mendoza with a 5-yard TD strike to cut the advantage back to 26-21. The Eagles then appeared to recover the ball on the ensuing on-side kick when Sams went high in the air to grab the ball, but he was ruled offsides and MSJC had to try the on-side again. The second time the Cougars were ready and recovered the kick to end the game.

Kretz, who was playing quarterback for the first time in his MSJC career, was named the Offensive Player of the Game for his performance. The All-Conference wide receiver completed 24 of 48 passes for 268 yards and ran for a game-high 92 yards on 20 carries. Mitch Aubrey made a career-high 8 catches for 105 yards and Sams finished the game with 6 grabs for 71 yards.

Chase Shackleford led the Eagle defense with 8 total tackles, he also had a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. Brye Lighon was credited with 1.5 sacks in the game while Lakion Fowler and Eddie Smith both had one. Issac Brown was credited with half a sack and 2.5 tackles for loss.

The Eagles finished the season with an overall record of 6-5, Canyons improved to 8-3 with the win. MSJC was making their fourth bowl appearance in the past five seasons.