Stand and deliver: Defensive stop seals win for BC
| Saturday, Oct 10 2009 11:12 PM
Last Updated Saturday, Oct 10 2009 11:26 PM
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John Harte / Special to The Californian Ben Estill of the Renegades is tripped up by Hancock linebacker Steele Asing (45) after Estill picked up a big gain on this first-half run in Santa Maria. CQ
John Harte / Special to The Californian Ben Estill picks up some yards for the Renegades in the first half against Allan Hancock College in Santa Maria. CQ
John Harte / Special to The Californian Bakersfield defenders Mitchel Knoy (75), Tierney Yates (53) and Cameron Shelton (55) try to cut off Hancock quarterback Gunnar Jespersen as he scrambles in the first quarter in Santa Maria. CQ including Mitchel with one L
John Harte / Special to The Californian Bakersfield's Cameron Shelton (55) and Yul Hawkins (18) close in on Hancock runner Edward Morrow on this first-half run in Santa Maria Saturday. CQ
SANTA MARIA -- The game-deciding play was approaching Saturday night and Bakersfield College free safety Eddie Coronado saw, to his horror, that 6-foot-5 Allan Hancock receiver Scott Cathcart lined up and no defender was nearby.
So Coronado raced over and applied enough defensive pressure for the fourth-down pass to fall incomplete in the end zone with four seconds left to secured BC's 31-24 win at Righetti High School.
"We were in coverage and we were missing a guy," said Coronado, who had a first-quarter interception that set up the first BC score. "I had to switch with the corner. It was a catchable ball."
Defensively, the Renegade (5-1, 2-0 Northern National Conference) were stretched to the limit. Hancock, a very big and physical team, ran for 144 yards in the fourth quarter with fatigue a likely factor among BC's defenders. The Bulldogs ran 33 plays in the final quarter to BC's 10.
Hancock (5-1, 1-1), needing a touchdown to force overtime, took over on its 27 with 3:11 left and quickly drove down the field, reaching the BC 27 with 1:10 left.
Quarterback Gunnar Jespersen completed a pass toward the right corner of the goal line to Daniel Rudolph, who stretched the ball toward the pylon as he was being tackled along the sideline.
One official ruled it a touchdown, but he was overruled by another referee who placed the ball at the 2. A run reached the 1-yard line and Jespersen spiked the ball to stop the clock with 30 seconds left.
Thomas Sua, who had 90 of his game-high 118 rushing yards in the second half, was stopped for a 2-yard loss. With the clock running, Jespersen's fourth-down pass fell incomplete to give BC the ball on downs inside the 3-yard line.
"I'm so proud of our guys for hanging in there. We didn't panic at the end," said BC head coach Jeff Chudy. "Thank God we got a call there at the end (on the pass to Rudolph). Give Hancock credit. They made adjustments and they didn't throw in the towel when we got ahead 24-3."
BC quarterback Logan Kilgore was 14-of-20 for 307 yards and three touchdowns. He had two 61-yard TD plays, one to William Randle on the first play from scrimmage in the second half and one to Rishard Matthews with 7:59 left in the fourth quarter that extended BC's lead to 31-17.
Matthews, who had gotten several steps behind the defender, bobbled the ball before securing it. He straight-armed a defender to get into the end zone
"That was a play we thought we could run on them that we put in this week," said BC offensive coordinator Carl Dean. "It was designed to attack their safety. We put two guys out there and as he covers one, we throw to the other. He (Kilgore) read it perfectly."
The Renegades' first score was a 24-yard pass from Kilgore to tight end Nathan Stevens with 10:45 left in the first quarter. It was only the second catch of the season for Stevens.
But the Matthews play was arguably the biggest by the BC offense in the fourth quarter. It gave the Renegades some breathing room after Hancock had pulled within 24-17.
"Our backs did a great job of blocking and so did our O-line all night," Kilgore said. "That helped us make the plays. But it was our defense. I'm not surprised they came through at the end. They've carried us all year."
BC had other scoring chances that could have put the game out of reach. Kilgore ran for first-down yardage inside the Hancock 10-yard line in the first quarter but fumbled the ball away. He also threw an interception when BC had reached the Bulldog 15.
The Renegades appeared to lose a touchdown in the second quarter when William Randle made a nice catch and appeared to reach the ball past the goal line. But the officials ruled Randle was down at the 1. Kilgore appeared to sneak in on the next play, but that was also ruled short of the goal line. A false-start penalty after that and an unsuccessful third-down conversion forced BC to settle for a 24-yard field goal by Josh Gallington.
"Logan did some nice things tonight, but we had two turnovers in the red zone," Chudy said. "We've got to be able to score when we get inside the 20-yard line."
BC returns home to face Moorpark College next Saturday.
