The Southwestern College Jaguars return home to host Citrus College on Saturday, Sept. 30, at 6 p.m. after surrendering two late touchdowns to fall, 38-34, in last Saturday’s non-division game at Pasadena City College.
The Jaguars enter Saturday’s game with a 2-2 record; the Owls are 1-2.
Last Saturday’s game opened on a positive note for the visitors as Adrian Petty scored on a 56-yard punt return. It was Petty’s fifth kick return for a touchdown this season.
The teams alternated touchdowns through the first half.
Pasadena City tied the score, 7-7, when Isaia Ah-Hing completed a 24-yard scoring pass to Steve Williams.
It was then the Jaguars’ turn to take the lead, 14-7, as Ryyan Wilkins scored on a 15-yard run.
The Lancers tied the game, 14-14, on a 15-yard touchdown run by James Shaw; SWC came back to take the lead, 21-14, when Demonte Morris scored on an 11-yard run.
A 42-yard field goal by PCC’s Enrique Lozano made the score 21-17. Southwestern countered with a 38-yard field goal by Alexander Nixon to close the first half with the score 24-17 in favor of the visitors.
The second half would write a slightly different story.
Nixon extended the Jaguars’ lead to 10 points, 27-17, on the strength of a 37-yard field goal. But the hosts made it a three-point ball game, 27-24, when Ah-Hing threw a 21-yard touchdown pass to Cardell Jeffers with 2:44 remaining in the third quarter.
Southwestern was able to extend its lead to 10 points again, 34-24, when Ryan Stokes caught a 27-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Joshua Cartwright in the early minutes of the fourth quarter.
That would be it for SWC as far as scoring in the game went; the Lancers began their comeback when it mattered most.
With 5:05 left in the game, Williams caught a 10-yard scoring pass to trim the Jaguars’ lead to 34-31.
A field goal would send the game into overtime at this point while a touchdown would win the game for the hosts. The latter scenario transpired.
Williams caught a six-yard TD pass with 21 seconds left and Lozano supplied the finishing touches on a dramatic 38-34 comeback victory with the extra-point conversion.
Southwestern eclipsed Pasadena City in just about every offensive category in absorbing the loss. The Jaguars out-gained the Lancers 446-356 in total offensive yards, running 74 total offensive plays to 69 and piling up 25 first downs to 19 for the hosts.
SWC out-gained PCC 201-38 in net rushing yards and 189-97 in return yards.
But the Jaguars’ Achilles heel proved to be in pass defense as Ah-Hing racked up 318 passing yards and four touchdowns to spirit his team to victory. Williams caught 11 passes for 109 yards and three touchdowns.
Southwestern head coach Ed Carberry said his team “traded blows for four quarters” with a “tough” Pasadena City team.
“Field position and a lack of ability to win the one-on-one contested passes were our undoing,” Carberry said.
“Turnovers were the story of the game with the offense throwing two interceptions and numerous near-miss interceptions. We started with poor field position most of the night with poor judgments by our kicking game group.
“Defensively, we stopped the run but gave up a handful of critical catches by PCC late in the game. Numerous occasions our offense put our defense in tough field positions but our defense stepped up to the task.
Cartwright finished 10-of-22 or 149 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Morris completed nine of 16 passing attempts for 96 yards with one interception.
Stokes caught six passes for 124 yards and one touchdown while Camron Lewis had five catches for 70 yards.
Morris rushed eight times for 78 yards and scored one touchdown while Cartwright scrambled eight times for 53 yards.
Wilkins had five carries for 45 yards and one touchdown while Isaiah Strayhorn (Eastlake) carried the ball 11 times for 33 yards.
Sergio Ayon (Otay Ranch) led the SWC defense with 10 tackles. The Jaguars put on the pressure with five sacks — two by Zyair Velasques — but did not come away with an interception or fumble recovery in the game.
Citrus defeated visiting San Bernardino Valley, 14-13, in its last game on Sept. 16. The Owls had a bye last week.
Devin Floyd scored both touchdowns for Citrus in the win over SBV, rushing 28 times for 96 yards in the game.
Southwestern College’s season statistics can be found at the following Internet link:
http://southwesternjaguars.com/sports/fball/2017-18/teams/southwestern?view=profile&r=0&pos=off
College report
San Diego State weathered an 88-minute delay due to rain and lighting in last Saturday’s Mountain West Conference opener at Air Force Academy. The Aztecs trailed 9-0 before the delay but rallied out out-score the Falcons 28-15 when play resumed to capture a dramatic 28-24 victory.
SDSU, which moved up to No. 19 in the weekly AP poll, remains undefeated at 4-0 and will host Northern Illinois (2-1) in Saturday’s game at the rechristened SDCCU Stadium. Kick-off is 7 p.m.
The Aztecs and Huskies rank as two of the most successful college programs in the nation over the past decade. SDSU is 67-30 (.671 winning percentage) while NIU is 72-27 (.727 winning percentage).
Rashaad Penny, who earned the MWC Offensive Player of the Week award for an unprecedented fourth consecutive week, tied a career high with three touchdowns in the win over Air Force. He has compiled four consecutive 100-yard rushing games this season, rushing 20 times for 128 yards in last Saturday’s road win.
Penny, a contender for both the Heisman and Doak Walker postseason awards, ranks second nationally with 179.0 rushing yards per game and 230.0 all-purpose yards per game and nine total touchdowns.
He scored on a 59-yard run with 5:39 to play as the Aztecs erased a 24-21 Falcon lead. Trey Lomax then applied the finishing touch on the comeback win by making an interception on fourth down to end the game.
The inclement weather contributed to a sloppy game that featured five fumbles, an interception, blocked punt and missed field goal.
The University of San Diego Toreros snapped a two-game losing streak by defeating visiting Butler, 38-17, last Saturday in the Brian Fogarty PFL Classic.
Former Grossmont High School quarterback threw for 367 yards and five touchdowns to lead the Toreros to their 28thconsecutive home victory against a Pioneer Football League opponent.
USD piled up 499 yards in total offense. Lawrence did not throw an interception in the contest. His primary receiving targets were Justin Priest and Ross Dwelley, who combined for 249 receiving yards and four touchdowns.
USD lost, 35-7, at UC Davis on Sept. 9 and dropped a 27-17 non-conference matchup at Princeton on Sept. 16.
The Toreros play at Dayton this Saturday (9 a.m. PDT).
Former Eastlake standout Isiah Olave recorded five tackles and one sack in the win over USD and had one tackle and two pass break-ups in the Aggies’ 37-14 win at Portland State on Sept. 16.
Through four games for UC Davis (2-2), Olave has accumulated 13 tackles and one sack.
