BC's offensive line set tone for big ground game
| Tuesday, Oct 20 2009 09:43 PM
Last Updated Tuesday, Oct 20 2009 11:17 PM
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John Harte / Special to The Californian Moorpark at BC football Vince Van Horne pulls in a big catch for the Renegades in the second quarter against Moorpark, with Donald Boyd defending. This catch helped set up a BC touchdown.
Bakersfield College's offensive success starts with a healthy offensive line.
For the first time since the season-opener against Fresno City College, the Renegades' first-string offensive linemen practiced an entire week together last week.
And the line played superbly in a 52-14 win over Moorpark, highlighted by the Renegades' season-high 404 rushing yards. BC is 6-1 overall and 3-0 in Northern National Conference play.
"We wanted to get our running game going last week," said Carl Dean, BC's offensive coordinator.
"The continuity thing is tough," head coach Jeff Chudy said of injuries that sidelined sophomores Mitchell Paneno and Casey Sorrell for various periods of time in recent weeks. "The O-line is where they all work together, and a lot of things have to happen right for a play to be done right."
Paneno and Sorrell are healthy now and join center Jordan Mudge, Joel Turriabiates and Mario Abundes.
Last week BC displayed a 1-2-3 punch at running back that reached new heights for this season.
Ben Estill had 132 yards and three touchdowns, Kendon Hampton had a 127 yards and his first TD of the season and Julian Dean-Johnson added 94 yards and two TDs.
That meant quarterback Logan Kilgore wasn't asked to throw a lot of passes: He was 8-of-15 for 134 yards.
Glendale a contrast this week
BC travels to Glendale College for a 6 p.m. game Saturday.
Unlike Moorpark, which attempted 56 passes last week, the Vaqueros focus on the running game. Glendale has 1,106 rushing yards compared to 795 passing yards.
"Playing Moorpark and Glendale in back-to-back weeks -- there are probably not two more dis-similar teams from an offensive perspective you could face," Chudy said. "Totally opposite: one team can't run and throws 56 times, and now we're playing a team that is going to line up and try to run the football."
BC beat Glendale last season, 45-21, the Renegades' second-highest scoring output in what turned out to be a 4-6 season.
Glendale is ranked No. 1 in Southern California in passing defense, allowing just over 121 yards a game. It ranks 11th in scoring defense.
After starting 3-0, Glendale has lost three straight, all on the road: 10-6 to Orange Coast, 20-13 to Ventura and 14-6 to Canyons.
"They have a lot better personnel than last year," Dean said. "It's night-and-day: way more athletic, they're bigger and they do a good job in the secondary."
Chudy was quick to point out BC's areas that need improvement.
"Last week it was penalties in the first half that held us back," he said. "The week before (a 31-24 win at Hancock) we had a couple of turnovers in the red zone and some poor tackling in the fourth quarter that held us back. And the week before that (a 34-13 win over Pasadena), it was turnovers and penalties that hurt us in the first half."
One of the biggest pluses so far: "Our guys have competed to the very end," Chudy said. "We know we have room for improvement. We're just trying to be more consistent."
BC inches up in poll
BC moved up four spots to No. 11 in this week's state junior college football poll, as compiled by the California JC coaches association.
BC (6-1) is ranked No. 7 in Southern California, three spots higher than the last poll two weeks ago. Because the majority of teams had byes two weeks ago, no poll was compiled last week.
Players crack all-time list
Three Renegades have moved onto the list of BC's individual career or single-season leaders.
Estill's 132 rushing yards last week gave him 1,085 in his career, the 24th player in BC history to top 1,000 yards. He's No. 22 all-time and closing in on No. 21 Chris Johnstone, who had 1,098 in his only season in 1985.
Kilgore has thrown for 1,317 yards this season, which ranks No. 15 on BC's single-season list. Ahead of him is Gary Kaiser, who threw for 1,354 yards in 1978.
And receiver Rishard Matthews' 34 catches ties him with T.J. Lee in 2005 and Billy Mackey in 1964 for ninth place on the single-season list.
Next is Taj Smith, who had 42 catches in 2004.
