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BC puts squeeze on Citrus, 31-13

BY JEFF EVANS, Californian staff writer
jevans@bakersfield.com | Saturday, Sep 24 2011 11:04 PM

Last Updated Saturday, Sep 24 2011 11:06 PM

Images

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Rod Thornburg/ Special to The Californian

BC vs. Citrus Football #1 of BC Mercy Maston tugs on Citrus College #5Demetrius Countsshirt to stop him before going any further.
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Rod Thornburg/ Special to The Californian

BC vs. Citrus Football #32 of Citrus tries to pull BC's #81 Emmanuel Ossai down before going out of bound.
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Rod Thornburg/ Special to The Californian

BC vs. Citrus Football Being guarded by #36 Dontra Johnson of Citrus College BC's #7 Adam Clayton catches the ball after a tip off his a teammate fingers.
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Rod Thornburg/ Special to The Californian

BC vs. Citrus Football Being guarded by Citrus College player #36 Dontra Johnson BC's #7Adam Claytongrabs a tip off his fingers to complete a pass intended for a teammate.

 

Bakersfield College coach Jeff Chudy wasn’t ready to anoint Saturday’s 31-13 win over Citrus College as the Renegades’ best all-around game of the season.

But it would be hard to argue against that.

“It was our best first half for sure,” Chudy said after the Renegades improved to 3-1. “Offense, defense and special teams. We had great kicks, great returns, only one turnover and we really played well on defense.”

His enthusiasm waned when discussing the first two Citrus possessions of the second half.

“I was very disappointed how we came out in the second half,” he said. “We flopped around and couldn’t get in sync.”
BC had a 14-0 lead when Citrus drove for a TD only four plays into the third quarter, a short swing pass that turned into a 42-yard TD play from Blake Loncar to Dilan Clark. 

And when Jalen Sykes lost a fumble after a 13-yard gain on BC’s first play in the third quarter, the Owls (1-2) quickly scored again, on Loncar’s 1-yard run.

But that was the final highlight for Citrus. The snap was fumbled on the PAT, which led to an unsuccessful two-point try, and BC pulled away after that.

Sykes took the ensuing kickoff 51 yards, setting up a 40-yard field goal by Tyler Schleicher. And when BC linebacker Ian Driskill intercepted a Loncar pass and returned it 84 yards for a TD, it was 24-13 midway through the third quarter.

BC quarterback Brian Duboski, who was making his career start after first-string QB Brian Burrell suffered a shoulder injury last week, added a 1-yard TD run in the fourth quarter to conclude the scoring. Duboski added a 4-yard TD run in the second quarter.

The Renegades led 14-0 at halftime thanks to a pair of second-quarter touchdowns.

Duboski struggled with his passing accuracy in the first quarter, completing only 1-of-7 for 7 yards.

BC, which has not scored a first-quarter point this season, threatened to end that dubious distinction when it reached the Citrus 18 on its first possession. But Duboski, under a furious rush, threw an interception that ended that threat.

At that point, Duboski seemed out of sync. But on BC’s first possession of the second quarter, Duboski completed a play-action pass to wide open tight end Emmanuel Ossai for 46 yards to the Citrus 19.

Three plays later Duboski completed a third-and-7 pass to wide receiver Darius Tubbs for 12 yards to the Citrus 4, and Duboski capped the drive with a TD run on the next play. Schliecher’s PAT made it 7-0.

Citrus went 3-and-out on its next series, and BC put together a 77-yard, 11-play scoring drive. Freshman running back Sykes scored on a 7-yard run with 3:44 left in the half and Schleicher kicked the PAT.

The key play on that drive was a third-and-2 pass to wide receiver Adam Clayton that gained 16 yards to the Citrus 17. The pass was intended for Tubbs but bounced off his hands. Ten yards down field, Clayton, who was on his knees and had a Citrus defender crawling over his back, made the catch. Sykes scored three plays later.

The BC defense did a good job containing the Owls’ big-play threats. Citrus crossed midfield only once and managed to reach the BC 23, but Renegade cornerback Mercy Maston intercepted a pass in the end zone to end that threat. Maston had two first-half interceptions.

Sykes finished with 176 rushing yards on 31 carries. 

Loncar, Citrus’ QB who averaged more than 300 passing yards a game, was 25-of-34 for 253 yards but threw three interceptions.

BC plays at Mount San Antonio College, the two-time defending state champion, 

Mt. SAC had its 26-game winning streak, dating to the 2009 season, snapped Saturday in a 29-26 loss to Riverside City College.

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