Photos by Josh Thompson, Gus Vargas & Anthony Sarinana
College Football:
By Brian Reed-Baiotto, Sports Editor
For the first 27 minutes or so of Saturday night’s showdown, Citrus and Mt. SAC were locked in a 14-14 tie.
The Mounties and Owls entered the contest with identical 3-0 records, and they were ranked third and seventh in the state, respectively.
But Dedrek Taylor-Akins caught 39-and-57-yard TD passes from Alex Flores to give the visitors from Walnut a 28-14 lead at the half.
And the Mounties never let Citrus back in, claiming a 42-21 victory, and in the process, ending the Owls’ state-best 17-game win streak.
Over the long haul, MSAC used their depth at the skilled positions to pull away from a very tough and proud Owls’ program.
Flores completed 15-of-23 for 245 yards, and that included TD passes of 31, 39, 57 and 17 yards.
Taylor-Akins had four catches for 113 yards and three of the four went for scores.
Jordan Williams caught a 31-yard TD pass from Flores about 10 minutes in to give MSAC a 7-0 lead.
Nick Floyd anchored the Mounties ground game with 113 yards on 12 carries.
Floyd had TD runs of 28 and 48 yards.
The Mounties defense was able to hold the two leading Citrus running backs to 98 yards on 26 carries.
Tayvonne Miller carried the ball 15 times for 69 yards and Kannon Katzer gained 29 yards on 11 carries.
Katzer, however, would break a few tackles and scored on an 18-yard run with 6:39 to play in the half to catch MSAC at 14-14.
Koy Riggin completed 16-of-23 for 136 yards.
Riggin had TD passes of 2 and 13 yards.
And the Owls quarterback was picked once (Elija Griffin).
Jesse Carmona led the Citrus receiving corps with six catches for 90 yards.
Maurice Hampton caught a 2-yard TD pass from Riggin to tie the game at 7-7.
And Donovan Zackery’s 17-yard TD catch early in the fourth quarter capped the scoring for the Owls.
Mt. SAC had a 406-273 advantage in total offense.
The Owls defense held Mt. SAC to 161 yards rushing, which is 143 under its weekly average.
Kaylon Bradley led the MSAC defense with nine tackles, including a pair of sacks.
Shamar Hawkins, Deon Cavitt, Reggie Johnson and Katin Suprenant had eight tackles apiece and Johnson had 1.5 sacks.
Cody Stordahl led the Citrus defense with seven tackles.
Chandler Carthan finished with six tackles and that included a sack that ended the Mounties second drive of the game.
Up next: The Owls travel to Golden West next Saturday at noon, and the Mounties host SBVC at 6.
To view a photo gallery by Josh Thompson, click on the Facebook link here: Facebook
To view a photo gallery by Anthony Sarinana, click on the Facebook link here: Facebook
To view a photo gallery by Gus Vargas, click on the Facebook link here: Facebook
Quotable:
Mt. SAC quarterback, Alex Flores: “Citrus played an extremely tough game and they fought til the very end. The coaches over there definitely have the right formula and they will be winning many more games this year. Offensively, we just needed to not make any mistakes. We knew we had to protect the ball and not give them any extra possessions. We started a little slow, but once we started to get in a rhythm, we were feeling more like ourselves. Our coaches put together a great game plan and made key in-game adjustments, and we just needed to execute each play. Throwing to guys like Dedrek makes my job easy. I know when the ball is in the air, he’s going to come down with it. He and all the receivers had a great night last night. We felt that we left too many points off the board that we know we have to clean up moving forward. But it was a collective effort, and the big boys up front played extremely hard all night making holes for our backs and giving me time to throw the ball. Running backs ran hard and downhill all night.”
Box Score:
MS: 7-21-14-0-(42)
CC: 0-14-0-7-(21)
Scoring:
MS: Jordan Williams 31 pass from Alex Flores (Diego Esqueda kick)
CC: Maurice Hampton 2 pass from Koy Riggin (Kosuke Kayahara kick)
MS: Nicholas Floyd 28 run (Diego Esqueda kick)
CC: Kannon Katzer 18 run (Kosuke Kayahara kick)
MS: Dedrek Taylor-Akins 39 pass from Alex Flores (Diego Esqueda kick)
MS: Dedrek Taylor-Akins 57 pass from Alex Flores (Diego Esqueda kick)
MS: Nicholas Floyd 48 run (Diego Esqueda kick)
MS: Dedrek Taylor-Akins 17 pass from Alex Flores (Diego Esqueda kick)
CC: Donovan Zackery 13 pass from Koy Riggin (Kosuke Kayahara kick)
Records: Mt. SAC (4-0); Citrus (3-1)
Photos by Tim Lunney Football: There were a number of programs within the 210 Prep Sports coverage zone that had historic seasons in 2024. Of the 30 teams we follow, only two finished the regular season without a loss. Bonita began the year with 11 consecutive wins for the first time since 1999. The Bearcats […]
Photos by Carlo Montalbo (@Carlo.Monalbo on Instagram) Boys Basketball: Glendora got one more game in before Christmas. And they made the most of it. The Tartans cruised to a 91-58 nonleague victory over Hesperia. GHS had a 48-25 lead at the half. Sebastian Demano scored a game-high 21 points. Demano also had five rebounds, nine […]
Photos by Alex Veliz Girls Basketball: La Salle improved to 12-1 after Saturday’s 40-28 victory over Westlake at the La Salle Winter Showcase. The Lancers led 22-12 at the half, and 32-17 after three quarters. Casey Higgins led La Salle with 10 points. Aislin Tamez Torres had nine points, and Emily Fong contributed eight points […]
Photos by Alex Veliz Girls Basketball La Salle won its eighth consecutive game on Friday. The Lancers cruised to a 75-45 victory over Schurr at the La Salle Winter Showcase. LSHS had a 38-17 lead at the break, and the outcome was never in doubt. Casey Higgins scored a game-high 21 points. Emily Fong chipped […]
Boys Basketball: Etiwanda picked up victory No. 10 of the 2024-25 season on Friday. The Eagles outlasted their visitors from Vista Murrieta, 69-57, behind 18 points from AJ Orji. Orji scored 15 of the 18 in the second half. Ayden Hamilton chipped in with 14 points and Sloane Harris had 11. Cisco Munoz scored a […]
Boys Basketball: Bonita dug itself a 15-point hole at the half in Thursday’s Palomares League opener at Diamond Bar. The Bearcats outscored the Brahmas 49-41, but DBHS would hold on for a 73-66 victory. Bonita had a 10-9 advantage in 3-pointers made. Tyler West led Diamond Bar with 20 points and Jedison Chow had 16 […]
Photos by Carlo Montalbo (@Carlo.Montalbo on Instagram) Boys Basketball: Something had to give when Glendora and Ayala met up Thursday night in Chino Hills. The Bulldogs had won five in a row and 10 of their last 11 games. And the visiting Tartans entered the Palomares League opener for both programs on an eight-game win […]
Wrestling: So far, so good. Bonita has opened the Palomares League portion of its schedule with a pair of blowouts. Last week, the Bearcats secured a 64-18 victory at Diamond Bar. And last night, BHS won 12-of-14 matches, and they cruised to a 65-11 victory. Bonita is now 6-1 overall, and 2-0 in league matches. […]
Photos by Carlo Montalbo (@Carlo.Montalbo on Instagram) Girls Basketball: Glendora had one of its poorest shooting efforts of the year. But when push came to shove, the Tartans pulled away in the second half and they secured a 44-33 victory at Ayala in the Palomares League opener for both programs. GHS and AHS combined for […]
