College Football:
Mission completed.
The greatest season in Citrus College football history ended in perfection.
The Owls finished 11-0 after Saturday’s 31-20 victory at Mt. San Jacinto College in the SCFA American Division Championship Bowl Game.
And it wasn’t as close as the score might indicate.
Citrus had a 28-7 lead before MSJ scored 17 fourth-quarter points.
Adam Urena finished off his historic JC career with three passing TD’s and a 1-yard TD run.
Urena completed 17-of-26 for 269 yards and no picks.
Arden Napier caught a 7-yard TD pass from Urena 1:49 into the second quarter to give Citrus a 7-0 lead.
With less than a minute to play in the first half, Robert Coleman hit Taylor Tosches on a 27-yard TD, and the game was tied at 7-7.
The Owls, however, would score the game’s next 21 points to pull away from Mt. San Jacinto.
And it started with Robert Vega.
Vega caught a screen pass from Urena, and the Citrus sophomore broke a couple of tackles, and took the ball 65 yards to give the Owls a 14-7 lead with 8:38 to go in the first half.
After a Urena 1-yard TD run, the sophomore quarterback connected with Alex Vazquez on a 20-yard TD, and the lead grew to 28-7.
Urena’s historic run at Citrus included a single-season record of 33 TD passes in 2022, and he set the new career TD passing mark with 57 over the last two years.
Kosuke Kayahara was 4-of-4 on extra-point attempts, and he converted on a 26-yard field goal in the fourth quarter to cap the Citrus scoring.
Vega was huge, catching four passes for a game-high 118 yards and one score.
Napier had four receptions for 72 yards, and Vazquez caught four passes for 68 yards.
Jesse Carmona had five catches for 50 yards, and he completed each of his three pass attempts for 56 yards.
Elijah Finney (12 for 56) and Jonathan Guerrero (13-for-55) combined to gain 111 yards rushing on 25 carries.
MSJ’s Coleman completed 19 of 30 for 290 yards.
He threw a pair of TD passes and was picked once (Darren Mercer).
Two former Ayala High studs, Drew Merrill and Chandler Carthan, led the Citrus defense with nine tackles apiece.
Isaiah Loera finished with eight tackles and JJ Edwards had six.
Joshua Garcia had two sacks for the Owls’ defense.
Quotable:
Citrus quarterback, Adam Urena: “I would say that the championship game perfectly embodied our season, it was tied up and it was a dog fight, but we ended up pulling through and winning in the end. The defense played lights out and the offensive line carried us to another victory. But it still hasn’t really hit me yet. I never expected after I graduated high school 3 years later that we end up winning a championship. It’s unreal. I’m still waiting for all the emotions to really hit the way I know they will.”
Citrus receiver, Robert Vega: “I wouldn’t be able to do it without my teammates. Adam, Austin, Isaiah, and Arden. They gave me the inspiration and motivation that kept me going all season long. This in turn made me the player I am today, and it helped lead me to have the game I had against Mt. San Jacinto. I am proud to be part of this program and to be the first team to ever go undefeated is something special.”
Box Score:
Cit: 0-7-7-17-(31)
MSJ: 0-7-0-13-(20)
Scoring:
Cit: Arden Napier 7 pass from Adam Urena (Kosuke Kayahara kick)
MSJ: Taylor Tosches 27 pass from Robert Coleman (Nathaniel Peterson kick)
Cit: Robert Vega 65 pass from Adam Urena (Kosuke Kayahara kick)
Cit: Adam Urena 1 run (Kosuke Kayahara kick)
Cit: Alex Vazquez 20 pass from Adam Urena (Kosuke Kayahara kick)
MSJ: Devin Dorsey 4 pass from Robert Coleman (Nathaniel Peterson kick)
Cit: Kosuke Kayahara 26 FG
MSJ: Matthew Caldera 95 kickoff return (run failed)
Records: Citrus (11-0); Mt. San Jacinto (9-2)
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