Eagles' first game in new stadium ends in 16-7 loss
MSJC defensive back Carsten Mamaril puts a hit on a Citrus ballcarrier Saturday. (Photo by Rick Rowell) By Paige Mendez, Correspondent The...
By Paige Mendez, Correspondent
The Mt. San Jacinto College football team played its second game of the season Saturday night and suffered a 16-7 loss to Citrus College.
This was the first game in the new Stadium at Menifee and community members showed up to cheer on the Eagles, who hoped to get their first win of the season in front of the home crowd.
The first drive for MSJC brought zero net yards but a punt put Citrus in a deep position at their own 6-yard line. The Eagles defense got a stop just seven plays later.
MSJC quarterback Hayden Lara and his offense pushed down the field all the way to the red zone on the next drive, moving all the way to the 3-yard line. But a Citrus interception took the scoring chance away from the Eagles just before the end of the first quarter.
The interception was one of the handful of momentum killers plaguing the team in the game, said head coach Casey Mazzotta.
Interceptions, penalties in the red zone, fumbles and a blocked field goal attempt topped off the list of things that just didn’t go the Eagles’ way in the game -- something wide receiver Christian Kretz said he thinks will improve over the next week with more effort.
“We’ve got a lot to improve on. We just have to go all the way to the end of the whistle,” Kretz said. “We’ve got to come together as a team.”
“We just need to get some continuity on our team,” Mazzotta said, adding to Kretz’s thoughts. “We had some good defensive stuff but some penalties, then some good offensive stuff and some turnovers, so we just need more continuity.”
The Eagles defense held Citrus to just 19 yards in the first quarter, as well as forcing a punt from the first three of their drives and getting a clutch interception from defensive back Tyler Martin before the end of the half.
Later, Eagles punter Konner Melzer put a punt in perfect position at the Citrus 3-yard-line. That was followed by two penalties on the offense and MSJC had them pushed back to the half-yard line on third down.
But the Owls found a receiver and converted the third down and turned that drive into a 99-yard touchdown drive just five plays later.
“Things like that are real momentum killers,” Mazzotta said. “Our defense was feeling good about themselves and we had them backed up on the 1 and then they had a 99-yard drive that wore our guys out.”
On the offensive side, Eagles running back Matthew Caldera put up 77 total yards in the game, Kretz tallied 65 of his own, while Lara threw for 225 yards and rushed for 38 -- 21 of which accounted for the only MSJC touchdown of the night. That score brought the Eagles within three (Citrus earlier kicked a field goal) around the four-minute mark of the third quarter.
An answering touchdown from the Owls put them up 16-7 just five seconds into the fourth quarter. And an injury to Lara had the Eagles scrambling on offense, leading to an interception in the next play.
The Eagles were still in it, however, thanks to a missed field goal attempt on the other side with nine minutes to go. Lara was back in for the next drive and got his team within field goal range, but Citrus made a block that sealed its win on the night.
Martin said that even though it wasn’t the outcome they had hoped, he felt his team showed something important in the game.
“I think we showed our toughness and as a team we just have to make a few more corrections and we’ll be on the other side of this,” said Martin. “We’re not going to go quietly; we’ll keep coming and keep coming and keep coming.”
Mazzota said although the community that came to watch the game didn’t see a win from the Eagles, he hopes they see a team that represents the community well.
“We play against teams that have kids from out of state, but that’s not us,” said Mazzotta. “We are a community team. We are built out of our community and we take a lot of pride in that.”
The community’s next chance to see the Eagles at the Stadium at Menifee will be Sept. 30 at 6 p.m. against Riverside after two away games at Moorpark and Fulllerton in the next two weeks.
Quarterback Hayden Lara crosses the goal line with MSJC's only touchdown. (Photo by Rick Rowell)
Wide receiver Koa Apana tries to avoid a defender and keep his balance. (Photo by Rick Rowell)
Linebacker Thomas Hill reaches out to tackle a Citrus player Saturday night. (Photo by Rick Rowell)
