The Mt. San Jacinto College Eagles’ football team put up 14 points in the third quarter to earn a comeback victory over visiting Pasadena City College Saturday, Nov. 12. The win concluded their regular season, going unbeaten in league play as they earned their second straight American Mountain League Conference title.
MSJC finished the season with an overall record of 9-1; they were 5-0 in American Mountain League play. The expectation is that the Eagles will be awarded a berth in the American Division Championship Bowl for the second consecutive year, the official announcement will be made in the next few days.
The Eagle offense took a while to get warmed up Saturday. During the first half, the Lancer defense was trying to send a message, one that proved to be a test for a team that entered the contest averaging over 40 points per game. MSJC fell behind 3-0 late in the first quarter after a 35-yard Pasadena City field goal. The Eagles would not score their first points of the game until there was 7 minutes, 56 seconds left to play before the half. Jaylen Magee capped off a nine play 54-yard drive with a 2-yard touchdown run, a failed extra point left the score at 6-3.
Just before halftime, the Lancers retook the lead as they put together a 14 play 87-yard drive that took 6:38 off the clock, which ended with a 1-yard TD run by Caleb Gardner. MSJC blocked the extra point and sent the game to halftime at 9-6.
The Eagles took the lead for good with 2:23 left to play in the third quarter when Magee scored his second touchdown of the day on a 7-yard run. This time, the extra point was good, and MSJC led 13-9. On the ensuing Pasadena possession, Naisir Morrow recovered a Lancer fumble on their 10-yard line to set up a short field. It took just two plays for the Eagles to score, when Robert Coleman hooked up with Jevin Dorsey on a 4-yard touchdown pass that extended the lead to 20-9.
Pasadena would score with 11:26 to play in the game, cutting the lead to 20-17, but the Eagle defense was solid the rest of the way. MSJC put the game away with 1:15 to go when Magee scored his third TD of the day on a 5-yard run.
Coleman finished his day throwing for 175 yards and rushing for a team best 74, Magee had 43 total yards on the ground and 36 receiving yards to go along with his three touchdowns,
On defense, another huge game by Steven Bradshaw led the way as he finished with 12 total tackles. Quentin Evans had his best game of the season as he made 11 tackles while Demond Young made 9 stops. Nathan Ortiz had a sack for the Eagles defense, which made 7.5 total plays for negative yardage.
The league championship was the second in a row for the Eagles, who last year shared the title with Pasadena and Grossmont, as they avenged a 28-26 loss last season to the Lancers. MSJC made their third straight Bowl appearance Saturday, Nov. 26, against Citrus, but fell 31-20. The full box score can be found online at http://www.msjcathletics.com. Article contributions made by the MSJC Athletics Department.
JP Raineri can be reached by email at sports@reedermedia.com.
