A large crowd of over 1,500 fans were on hand as the MSJC Eagles played their first football game in the long-awaited, brand-new stadium at the Menifee campus Saturday, Sept. 9. While the pre-game celebration had just about everything you could want including a military fly-over after the national anthem, the game itself had an outcome that didn’t go as planned. Despite a hard-fought game, MSJC lost to visiting Citrus 16-7.
Both teams had a tough time finding the end zone in the first half as the game was scoreless for over twenty-five minutes. With 4:40 left to play before halftime the Owls scored on a 46-yard pass when Koy Riggin hit Tayvonne Miller to take a 7-0 lead. Citrus would tack on a field goal on the final play of the half to lead 10-0 going to the break.
MSJC fought their way back into the game in the third quarter when they scored on a 21-yard TD run by Hayden Lara, with Mason Krause cutting the lead to 10-7 with the extra point. An early fourth quarter touchdown by Citrus would put the end cap on the game.
Former Vista Murrieta standout, Matthew Caldera, led the ground attack for the Eagles with 56 yards rushing as Lara finished his night throwing for 187 yards on 17 of 35 passing attempts. Koa Apana, formerly of Temescal Canyon, had a team high six receptions and Elijah Simley (King High School) had a team high 70 yards receiving on five catches. Christian Kretz, a Temecula Valley graduate, also made five grabs for the Eagles and Caldera caught four passes out of the backfield.
On defense Quentin Evans, a Temescal Canyon graduate, recorded a team high eight total tackles, Miron Hazem (Norte Vista) had a QB sack, and Tyler Martin, formerly of Murrieta Mesa, had an interception. When the night was over Citrus had out gained the Eagles in total offensive yards, 417 vs. 295. The key factor was the run game where the Owls outrushed MSJC by over 150+ yards.
The loss had put the Eagles at 0-2 on the season while Citrus improved to 2-0, but after this past weekend’s 33-26 loss to Moorpark, MSJC is now 0-3. The Eagles will be on the road Saturday, Sept. 23, when they travel to Fullerton before returning home to host Riverside on Saturday, Sept. 30.
JP Raineri can be reached by email at sports@reedermedia.com.
