Eagles Can't Get Past #11 Saddleback

The MSJC football team gave #11 ranked Saddleback all they could handle on Thursday night, but it wasn't enough as the Eagles lost their third straight game 24-13.

The Bobcats opened the night's scoring with a fifty-six-yard touchdown pass on a flea flicker that caught the MSJC defense off guard. That was the only score of the opening quarter. The Eagles took advantage of the Bobcats' only turnover of the night late in the second period when Dojonni Bryant picked off a pass at Saddleback's twenty-two-yard line. Five plays later Donovan Harvey scored on a one-yard run and after a Sebastian Stapleton extra point the game was tied at 7-7. The Bobcats, however, answered with a quick ten play sixty-seven-yard touchdown drive that would give them the lead back with just five seconds to play before the half.

The Eagles closed the deficit to 14-10 early in the third quarter when Stapleton connected on a thirty-seven-yard field goal. The Bobcats would push the lead back to eleven on their next possession as they scored on a nineteen-yard pass. MSJC could not find the end zone for the rest of the half and their final three points came on another Stapleton field goal, this time from forty-eight yards out. The Bobcats finally put the game away with a field goal of their own with 6:44 to play making the score 24-13.

MSJC quarterbacks Julian Silva and Cole Vasquez split time during the game with Silva completing twelve of twenty passes for 107 yards while Vasquez was seven for eleven for 77 yards. William Ford led the ground game with forty yards on thirteen carries. Jackson Weng, Dante Sams, and Harvey all had four receptions.

On defense Eddie Smith continued his strong season making a game high thirteen tackles. Bryant finished the game with six tackles to go along with his interception; he also had a pass break up. Ifeanyi Onye made five tackles including two for loss and Pedro Rodriguez was also credited with five stops.

The loss drops the Eagles to 2-4 overall on the season they are 0-3 in the National Southern League. MSJC returns to action on Saturday when they travel to Chaffey to take on the Panthers. Kickoff Saturday is set for 6 pm.