BC can't scale No. 1 Mount SAC in playoff defeat
| Saturday, Nov 20 2010 11:00 PM
Last Updated Saturday, Nov 20 2010 11:00 PM
WALNUT -- It was a somber group of Bakersfield College football players who listened to coach Jeff Chudy's final post-game comments Saturday.
The Renegades were outscored 30-0 over the second and third quarters Saturday night and dropped a 36-26 decision to top-ranked Mount San Antonio College in the Southern California semifinals at Mount SAC.
The Mounties (11-0), who are seeking their fourth straight Southern California title and second straight state championship, advance to the SoCal finals next Saturday against third-seeded Cerritos, which downed No. 2 Saddleback 34-14 in the other semifinal.
It was a bittersweet finish to BC's season. The Renegades finished 8-3 after reaching the playoffs for the third time in four seasons. All three times they were eliminated by Mount SAC.
"They played better football than we did," Chudy said after BC lost to the Mounties for the second time this season. "We needed to play flawless and we weren't flawless. If we learned anything tonight, their guys are finishers."
Mount SAC quarterback Nick Lamaison, who shredded BC's pass defense on Oct. 4 in the Mounties' 34-20 regular-season win, wasn't quite as dominant as he was in the October game. But he still went 20-of-31 for 309 yards and four touchdowns.
Lamaison was Mount SAC's quarterback in 2008, left for a season at Tennessee where he didn't play and returned to the Mounties this season.
BC led 7-0 after one quarter, thanks to a 5-yard pass from Lyle Negron to George Robbins to cap an 80-yard touchdown drive.
The Renegades had two other golden opportunities to score that would have kept them in the game.
With 2:30 left in the first half and BC trailing 17-7, BC reached the Mount SAC 1 for a first down after converting a fourth-and-inches play. But Negron lost the ball on the next snap and the Mounties recovered at the 20.
"The ball was soaking wet and my hand was wet; it was really pouring," Negron said of the heavy shower at the time. "I put out one hand and it went right off me. That was huge. We score there and we're within 3."
In the third quarter, BC drove 58 yards to the Mount SAC 2, but a sack and procedure penalty knocked the Renegades to the 12. BC would up turning the ball over on downs.
"We had our opportunities," said Carl Dean, BC's offensive coordinator. "We had those two chances and we hurt ourselves. It's a credit to their defense."
Lamaison had two key touchdown passes in the second quarter that put the Mounties ahead for good, a 55-yard pass to Michael Edwards on a post pattern and a 30-yard screen to Matthew Botello.
He added two third-down TD passes: a 10-yarder to wide open Richard Parham in the back of the end zone and a 28-yarder to Ernst Brun who caught a perfectly thrown ball over his shoulder after getting a step on a BC defender.
The Mounties shut off the BC running game, limiting the Renegades to 26 net yards on 32 attempts.
Trailing 30-7 entering the fourth quarter, the Renegades rallied for three touchdowns.
Negron threw for 219 yards in the quarter, with touchdown passes of 12 yards to Fred Fowler and 3 yards to Loren Kolb. For the game Negron was 37-of-58 for 362 yards and three touchdowns, by far the most passes and completions he had in any game this season.
"We were down and we just had to put it in the air," Negron said. "It was just backyard ball."
"I'm proud of the way the kids kept battling," Dean said. "We were just trying to put points on the board. This was a fun group this year."
Robbins caught 11 passes for 109 yards and Kolb had nine catches for 112. But the Mounties kept the BC runners in check, limiting Andre Smith to 16 yards on seven carries and Julian Dean-Johnson to nine yards on nine carries. The Renegades bascially abandoned the run in the second half.
