With the win over the Palomar Comets, the 3-0 Citrus Owls sought a win over the Santa Barbara Vaqueros to keep their undefeated season alive–pushing them to a 4-0 season.
In the final minutes of the fourth quarter, Citrus Owls wide receiver Jeremiah Lineberger sealed the 12-3 victory with a 16 yard touchdown catch, from quarterback Austin Zavala.
It was Zavala’s second passing touchdown of the game, the other being a 6 yard pass to running back Sal Tovar in the first quarter.
“It was ugly. It was tough,” Tovar said, “but we ended up coming out when it counted in the fourth quarter to pull through.”
Coming in clutch, especially in the 4th quarter, was the Owls defense. A 25 yard interception return from Owls cornerback Chima Mbaruguru within the final minutes of the game shifted the momentum. It was the second interception of the game, the other coming from cornerback Marquise Ogletree. Another important play in the game was a forced fumble from Owls fullback Eden Smith.
Citrus College defensive line, strength and conditioning coach Brandon Hyashi said his defense was well prepared for Saturday’s game.
“We knew that we just needed to be physical up front with the O-line.” Hyashi said.
“They like to play a little up-tempo. We knew that they wanted to run the ball, 1st and 2nd [down]. Then they came out passing and firing so that was the main thing we were looking at. But they kind of switched it up a little bit on us, turned it into 1st down pass, 2nd down run. So we knew that we needed to bring pressure on those pass plays that we knew were gonna happen.”
Citrus College football program coordinator, Ron Ponciano said he was satisfied with the win but is eager for next week’s game.
“A win is a win. That’s a good thing. Being 4-0 feels good,” Ponciano said. “We’ve learned from it. There were some positives that came out of it. And that’s what we’ll look at, because we’ve got a massive fight coming up next weekend, massive,” Ponciano repeated. “On very hostile turf. So it’ll be a great process for us to go through.”
Ponciano is referring to the Owls game against Allan Hancock at 2 p.m. on Oct. 5 at Allan Hancock where the Owls will strive to stretch their undefeated season to 5-0.
