BC earns share of conference title with rout of Canyons
| Saturday, Nov 13 2010 09:01 PM
Last Updated Saturday, Nov 13 2010 10:57 PM
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Bakersfield College wide receiver, George Robbins, right, makes the catch, Saturday, against College of the Canyons defender, Cassius Sendish, but steps out of bounds upon his landing. The ball was called back for another try.
Bakersfield College runningback, Leandre, West, carries the ball Saturday, while College of the Canyons, player, Antwan Smith, tries to make the tackle, at Memorial Stadium.
BC wide receiver Taylon Jackson, makes a sharp cut at Memorial Stadium, trying to run away from College of the Canyons defender, Antwan Smith, left.
BC wide receiver Brandon Hobdy, gets in a good run during the second quarter, Saturday, while playing the last regular game of their season, against College of the Canyons.
College of the Canyons linebacker, Khalil Bass, left, can't stop BC runningback Julian Dean-Johnson as he pushes his way over the line, Saturday, for a touchdown. This was the last game of the regular season for Bakersfield College.
Julian Dean-Johnson, hands the ball to the referee after scoring a touchdown, Saturday, at Memorial Stadium, against the College of the Canyons team.
College of the Canyons runningback Ryan Zirbel, goes up against Bakersfield College defensive back, Tyler Dogins, Saturday, at Memorial Stadium.
BC players defensive backs, Tyler Thompson, left, and Tyler Dogins, celebrate a touchdown, along with defensive lineman, Tevin Jackson, right, Saturday, at BC while playing against the College of the Canyons.
You knew Saturday was a special day for Bakersfield College football when the normally serious head coach Jeff Chudy was all smiles in his post-game meeting with his players.
The Renegades had just routed College of the Canyons, 41-14, to secure a National Northern Conference co-championship and berth in the state playoffs as one of four Southern California teams.
BC (8-2 overall, 4-1 NNC) will learn today who it will face next Saturday in the Southern California semifinals.
"I'm totally impressed by how our attitude was," Chudy said. "Our guys feel extremely proud to be one of four (Southern California) teams in the playoffs. It's an outstanding achievement."
A Southern California Football Conference committee will determine the final ranking of playoff and bowl-eligible teams and announce all matchups today.
Chudy said he thinks the Renegades will face either Mount San Antonio or Cerritos next week. Those teams handed the Renegades their losses this season.
BC would need a top-2 seed to host the playoff game in next week's Golden Empire Bowl. Otherwise the Renegades will be on the road and the Golden Empire Bowl will feature two non-Kern County teams.
Saddleback (8-2 with a loss to BC) secured a playoff berth by edging Fullerton, 42-39.
"If you told me this morning that the score would be 41-14, I'd say, 'no way,'" Chudy said. "We're extremely proud, as coaches, to play with that amount of intensity and energy in the first half."
The defense, which has been the team's strength since the middle of the second game, laid the foundation with four takeaways in the first half -- two fumble recoveries and two interceptions.
Different schemes and points of attack seemed to confuse Canyons quarterback Justin Arias, who was sacked four times.
"It was really pretty special," said freshman outside linebacker John Oglesby. "It takes a lot of people for a team to play together. Our coaches got us fired up and we played with compassion."
The tone was set early. Canyons took the opening kickoff and drove to the BC 1-yard line. A false start penalty knocked the Cougars back to the 6, and Everett Goldberg missed a 23-yard field goal.
The Cougars did not mount a serious scoring threat again until late in the third quarter, when the Renegades had a 34-0 lead.
The Renegades broke it open in the second quarter by scoring four touchdowns -- three directly set up by the defense.
BC's Josh Gallington hit a 35-yard field goal with 8:34 left in the first quarter to open the scoring.
It was still 3-0 when Julian Dean-Johnson powered in from 1-yard with 13:36 left in the second quarter, a drive that started on the Canyons 18 when linebacker Tierney Yates sacked Arias, stripped him of the ball and outfought players on both teams for the fumble recovery.
On Canyons' next play from scrimmage, BC linebacker Will Harvey leveled Arias as the quarterback was releasing a pass. The ball floated up for grabs, BC safety Tyler Dogins intercepted and returned it 25 yards for the Renegades' second TD in 13 seconds.
"That interception really got everyone hyped up," said safety Dillon Meadows, who also had a first-half interception that started a BC scoring drive. "When Tierney jumped on the pile and came up with the ball, that got everyone up, also."
Dean-Johnson added a 4-yard TD run with 4:24 left in the first half, a drive highlighted by a 65-yard pass play from quarterback Lyle Negron to wideout George Robbins -- a broken play that Negron created after being flushed from the pocket.
BC wasn't finished. Negron found wideout Brandon Hobdy on a 10-yard TD pass with 27 seconds left in the half, ending a drive that started at the BC 37 when Meadows made a diving interception.
"Those were not given to us," Chudy said. "We took advantage of the opportunities given to us. ... At the end of the day, it was all about execution."
Dean-Johnson added his third TD of the game on a fourth-quarter 18-yard run.
Canyons scored all of its points in the fourth quarter, on a 4-yard pass from Arias to Mychal Prieto and on a 32-yard fumble return by Antwan Smith.
"This was our last home game and we were not going to lose," said Negron, who was 12-of-20 for 219 yards.
