Football:

Citrus College got off to an 0-4 start in 2026.

And if that weren’t bad enough, the Owls defense surrendered 211 points over that stretch, including 68 against San Diego Mesa and 64 the following week at Mt. SAC.

However, if you know anything about Brandon Hayashi, it’s that his athletes are going to go down swinging from the first whistle to the last.

The Owls finally got their first win in week five, as they went into their bye with a 31-28 victory over Santa Ana.

Fast forward to Saturday night at Long Beach.

It looked as though Citrus had gotten off to another brutal start when Jacob Taddi returned the opening kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown.

Approximately 12 minutes later, the Vikings doubled their lead thanks to a 40-yard scoring strike from Kayde Bodine to Bo Jones.

Jones made a number of Owls defenders miss before reaching the end zone.

From that moment, Citrus was the author of five of the last seven scoring plays.

Considering everything written above, it’s an impressive turn of events that Hayashi’s Owls are now tied with Allan Hancock, Ventura and Moorpark for second place in the National Northern Conference standings.

And they sit just one-game back of first-place Mt. SAC.

Connor Underhill had a starring role on Saturday.

The San Diego native completed 23-of-40 for 276 yards.

That included a pair of TD passes and one pick.

Underhill connected with Dylan Tapley on a 6-yard TD and Jedi Hernandez on a 28-yard score in the 21-point second quarter.

His 11-yard TD run to his right at the 8-minute mark of the fourth quarter gave Citrus its first lead, and it turned out to be the game-winning points.

Underhill also led the Owls with 36 yards rushing on 12 carries.

Isaiah McKee gained 31 yards on 11 tries, and Hernandez carried the ball three times for 17 yards.

Cameron Bateman had a game-high six receptions for 69 yards.

Tapley finished with 61 yards on five receptions and the one TD.

Lorenza Simmons reeled in five passes for 45 yards, and he had a 5-yard TD run.

Tommy Vibabul caught a pair of passes for 42 yards, and Jair Davis contributed two receptions for 25 yards.

Aaron Wong booted a 43-yard field goal in the fourth quarter to pull Citrus to within 28-24 of the Vikings.

Maddox Barrios and Seth Tellez had six tackles apiece to lead the Owls defense.

Frank Williams (5), Cole Clifton (4) and Kaleb Williams (4) combined for 13 tackles in the win.

The game stats were about as even as the final score.

Long Beach had advantages in total yards (413-394), rushing (127-118) and passing (286-276).

Citrus, however, had a 24-19 edge in first downs and of course the only stat that matters, the scoreboard.

Neither team played a very disciplined brand of football.

The Owls had 12 penalties for 115 yards, while the Vikings were flagged 17 times for 131 yards.

Citrus’ worst penalty was a personal foul after one of its defenders went WWE on a Long Beach player that would have forced a punt.

That moment cost the Owls a possession and seven points.

For LBCC, they had hoped to force a last-second punt, but a penalty gave the Owls a first down and it allowed Underhill to get into victory formation and bleed the final ticks on the clock.

Bodine completed 20-of-39 for 286 yards for Long Beach.

He tossed three TD passes and didn’t turn the ball over.

Khalil Warren carried the ball 13 times for 101 yards.

Jones finished the contest with 89 receiving yards on three catches.

Up next: The Owls will host Ventura next Saturday night at 6.

The Pirates dropped a 51-19 beatdown on Allan Hancock.

Quotable:

Citrus quarterback, Connor Underhill: “I think taking it one play at a time really helped us build some momentum after we fell behind early. We were talking on the sidelines and we stayed positive. I told our guys to do the little things and the rest would take care of itself. There was a lot of pressure in tonight’s game, but I embrace those moments. I enjoy being in those situations. I was really proud of how we kept fighting even when things weren’t going our way. I was happy to do my part, but my teammates are the guys that make plays happen. I’m also proud of our defense, because they’ve worked so hard to get better.”

Box Score:
CC: 0-21-0-10-(31)
LB: 14-7-7-0-(28)

Scoring:
LB: Jacob Taddi 97 kickoff return (Daniel Blas kick)
LB: Bo Jones 40 pass from Kayde Bodine (Daniel Blas kick)
CC: Dylan Tapley 6 pass from Connor Underhill (Aaron Wong kick)
CC: Anthony Hernandez 28 pass from Connor Underhill (Aaron Wong kick)
LB: Bo Jones 50 pass from Kayde Bodine (Daniel Blas kick)
CC: Lorenza Simmons 5 run (Aaron Wong kick)
LB: Kevin Jennett 15 pass from Kayde Bodine (Daniel Blas kick)
CC: Aaron Wong 43 FG
CC: Connor Underhill 11 run (Aaron Wong kick)

National Northern Conference Scores:
Mt. SAC 44, Santa Ana 10
Citrus 31, Long Beach 28
Ventura 51, Allan Hancock 19
Moorpark 41, Santa Barbara 21

National Northern Standings:
Mt. SAC (5-1, 3-0)
Ventura (4-2, 2-1)
Allan Hancock (3-3, 2-1)
Citrus (2-4, 2-1)
Moorpark (2-4, 2-1)
Long Beach (1-5, 1-2)
Santa Ana (1-5, 0-3)
Santa Barbara (0-6, 0-3)

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Next Week’s Schedule:
Ventura at Citrus
Santa Barbara at Mt. SAC
Moorpark at Allan Hancock
Long Beach at Santa Ana