BC ground game is too much for Hancock
| Friday, Oct 15 2010 05:51 PM
Last Updated Saturday, Oct 16 2010 11:06 PM
SANTA MARIA — Bakersfield College’s highly touted running back tandem of Andre Smith and Julian Dean-Johnson never saw any action in the first quarter Saturday in a game when the Renegades were looking for renewed vigor from their running game.
But no matter. The Renegades controlled the clock with its best running performance of the season and cruised to a 29-7 win over Allan Hancock College in the National Northern Conference opener for both teams at Righetti High School.
“The guys up front played their best game of the year,” said BC coach Jeff Chudy after the Renegades improved to 5-1. “It’s no secret we’ve been struggling with our running game, and we made it a challenge to our offensive line to pound it home.”
Dean-Johnson and Smith did not play early on because of violations of team rules, Chudy said. Dean-Johnson didn’t play until the second quarter and Smith didn’t have his first carry until the third quarter.
“The guys know we have confidence in them as people, but we have team rules that we expect everyone to follow,” Chudy said. “For these guys, Andre and Julian, it was a life lesson. They wanted to be out there. And they’ll learn from this.”
Dean-Johnson finished with a game-high 77 rushing yards, including a 2-yard touchdown run with 8:36 left in the game that put it out of reach.
But Dean-Johnson’s biggest play was an option pass with BC in a third-and-24 situation from its own 29-yard line late in the third quarter.
Wide receiver George Robbins caught the ball and carried would-be tacklers for several yards, then broke free and was downed at the 1 for a 70-yard play. Quarterback Lyle Negron scored on the next play to give BC a 23-7 lead.
“That was the back-breaker,” Chudy said. “We had an illegal forward pass and a holding penalty (on previous plays), and it was third down and a gazillion. The guys did a good job up front and we did a great job executing it.”
Negron had three rushing touchdowns, two 1-yard runs and an 8-yard run.
The Renegades’ defense did a great job shutting down Hancock’s vaunted running attack, particularly in the first half.
Hancock finished with 109 rushing yards — the Bulldogs came into the game averaging more than 200 a game — and they had only 25 net rushing yards and zero rushing first downs in the first half.
“We had two weeks to prepare for this game because of the bye last week,” said BC freshman linebacker Will Harvey, who had his first collegiate interception on a deflected pass. He returned the pass 30 yards to midfield, and the Renegades eventually put the game away on Dean-Johnson’s 2-yard TD run.
“The whole team watches a lot of film,” Harvey added. “It’s all about preparation.”
Hancock mounted one efficient drive in the first half. Starting at the Hancock 37 after Dean-Johnson lost a fumble, Hancock drove to the BC 13. But with three seconds left in the half, Jared Miller’s 30-yard field goal attempt sailed wide right.
The Bulldogs (3-3) scored their only points on the first drive of the third quarter, with quarterback Seth Tripod scoring on a 1-yard run. BC nearly halted that drive when a Hancock fumble fell at the feet of a BC defensive lineman at the 8-yard line.
He tried to pick up the ball and run with it, but had it stripped away, with Hancock recovering to keep the drive alive.
Hancock had one other threat when it reached the BC 8. But a chop block penalty cost the Bulldogs 15 yards, and Harvey intercepted on the next play.
BC place-kicker Josh Gallington remained perfect this season, hitting a 48-yard field goal in the second quarter and adding two extra points. He is 8-for-8 on field goals and 31-for-31 on PATs this season.
BC plays host to Ventura College next Saturday.
