No. 15-ranked Citrus Owls football lost an offensive battle to the top-ranked Mount San Antonio College Mounties on Sept. 28 at Hilmer Lodge Stadium.
Coming off a blowout win against Grossmont, the Owls traveled down the road to Mt. SAC. The travel resulted in a 41-20 loss.
Head coach Brandon Hayashi said despite the loss, the team demonstrated some valuable characteristics about themselves.
“We showed that when we get down we can get back up and get going, we can put our mistakes aside,” Hayahsi said.
The team did just that after finding themselves down 21-0 early in the second quarter.
The Owls pulled one back as Hakim Haliburton completed a 5-yard run into the end zone for a touchdown.
Both teams traded turnovers on the next two drives.
First, Owls’ Philip Bagura got the ball back with an interception. However, the Mounties defense came up with an interception on the next play.
With the Mounties having the ball back and threatening to extend the lead, Christain Sampson came up with a momentum-changing interception inside the red zone for the Owls.
The interception set up quarterback Tobin O’Dell for a 4-yard rushing touchdown on fourth and goal. The extra point was missed which made the score 21-13.
“No mistakes, we cannot have mistakes in this game,” Citrus coach Scott Calles said on the sideline.
The Owls stormed out of the locker room ready for the second half breaking their huddle with the word “family,” and a newfound spark.
On the Mounties’ first drive of the second half, a missed field goal led to the Owls setting up a scoring drive.
A touchdown pass to Shawn Pearson cut the lead down to one. The score slightly favored the Mounties 21-20.
The Owls had the Mounties set to punt after a sack from linebacker Kyle Ferm. However, an unsportsmanlike penalty gave the Mounties a first down and 15 yards.
The flag proved to be costly as it shifted the momentum back to Mt. SAC. They scored three unanswered touchdowns to end the game.
The Owls now move to 2-2 on the season while the Mounties improve to 4-0.
Quarterback Koy Riggin said losing is never easy, but the team will move on and continue to work hard for their next matchup, starting with a productive lift.
“I am always able to find purpose just to come back and work hard,” Riggin said.
The hard work begins Oct. 1 as the players start to prepare for No. 8-ranked Golden West.
“You can think about it for 24 hours and after that move on to the next game,” Hayashi said.
The Owls return home as they face Golden West at 6 p.m. Oct. 5.
