Photos by Gus Vargas
College Football:
By Brian Reed-Baiotto, Sports Editor
Citrus College made some history on Saturday night.
The Owls defense held their ground on a pair of late Antelope Valley drives, and edged the visiting Marauders, 14-10, to remain unbeaten.
It’s the program’s first 5-0 start in 17 years.
Citrus took a 7-0 lead with 5:15 to play in the first half, when Adam Urena found his twin, Austin Urena, on a 9-yard TD pass.
Early in the third quarter, the Owls extended their advantage to 14-0, thanks to an 11-yard Jesse Carmona catch-and-run from Urena.
AVC would get as close as 14-7 midway through the third period, as Amir Bankhead rumbled in from 8 yards out.
The Marauders closed the gap to 14-10, when John Henderson booted a 22-yard field goal with 8:25 to play.
It was the Citrus defense, however, that would bend, but certainly did not break in making two late stops, including Drew Merrill tackling an AVC player short of a first down.
The Owls D held the Marauders to just 203 yards of total offense.
Jailen Edwards had a huge night with eight tackles, including a sack.
Jonathan Calderon tallied five tackles and a pick, while Drew Merrill, Chandler Carthan and Joshua Garcia had four tackles apiece for the Owls.
Luke Pruitt had two sacks and Garcia had one.
Matthew Littlejohn had an interception for Citrus.
AVC’s Daryus Warren went 16-of-29 for 182 yards.
Warren didn’t have a TD and was picked twice.
Bankhead had a team-high 37 yards rushing on nine carries, including his third-quarter TD run.
The other historical note is that Citrus College quarterback, Adam Urena, in just the fifth game of his sophomore season, has already tied the career TD mark with 45.
Urena completed 28-of-49 for 329 yards and the two scores.
He’d also be the first to tell you that he got away with a couple of his second-half passes that could have been picked.
The Owls lefty continues to get the job done, including the converting of multiple third-down passes late on Saturday to bleed the clock.
Jonathan Guerrero busted his butt as always, and gained a game-high 68 yards on 18 carries.
Elijah Finney carried the ball 10 times for 37 yards.
Robert Vega led the Citrus receiving corps with six catches for 102 yards.
Arden Napier (3 catches for 81 yards), Jesse Carmona (4-for-57) and Austin Urena (8-for-45) played huge in Saturday’s win.
The CC offense had a near 40-20-minute advantage in the time of possession battle.
Up next: After the next week off, Citrus will head to OCC on October 15th.
The kickoff is set for 1 pm.
Below the scoring plays are interviews with Coach Brandon Hayashi, Adam and Austin Urena, Chandler Carthan, Drew Merrill, Jonathan Guerrero and some highlight plays.
To view a photo gallery by Gus Vargas, click on the Facebook link here: Facebook
Box Score:
AV: 0-0-7-3-(10)
CC: 0-7-7-0-(14)
Scoring:
CC: Austin Urena 9 pass from Adam Urena (Kosuke Kayahara kick)
CC: Jesse Carmona 11 pass from Adam Urena (Kosuke Kayashara kick)
AV: Amir Bankhead 8 run (John Henderson kick)
AV: John Henderson 22 FG
Records: Antelope Valley (2-3); Citrus (5-0)
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