With the rain pouring down onto a swampy field at Hilmer Lodge Stadium, Bakersfield College took on the challenge of playing the state-ranked No. 1 and defending national champion Mount San Antonio College Mounties in Walnut. Although the Renegades had one of their best statistical games of the season, they struggled to punch in the opportunities they had to blow the game wide open. BC’s red zone woes were too much to overcome. When they did score, it would not be enough, and they lost 36-26 on Nov. 20.
BC jumped out to a 7-0 lead after both teams’ first drive stalled and a missed 37-yard field goal attempt by Mt. SAC. BC sophomore quarterback Lyle Negron, playing a nearly flawless game through the air, completed several passes from 10-15 yards all night, and this drive was no different.
Negron picked apart the Mt. SAC secondary, connecting with freshman George Robbins 11 times in the game. On the first scoring drive the duo connected three times, with the latter being a five-yard fade route for a touchdown with 2:07 left in the first quarter.
The Renegades had their best opportunity to put the Mounties down and out on the next drive when they forced a fumble late in the first quarter. But instead of capitalizing on the turnover, BC went three-and-out and gave the ball back.
Within 90 seconds, the game was tied at seven after two completed passes. Mt. SAC advanced the ball on a 12-yard pass that was fumbled and then recovered by the Mounties and a 55-yard pass from sophomore quarterback Nick Lamaison to sophomore receiver Michael Edwards for a touchdown with 14:30 left in the second quarter.
“What we wanted to deviate from was coming out and starting slow,” Lamaison said. “We came out and started moving the ball down field fast and got things going. We didn’t score in the first couple drives, but on the next couple of drives we came out and executed and we got things moving. After we did score, we just started rolling along.”
The rain would have an effect on the game for both teams.
On the next BC possession, two bad plays in a row led to the first BC turnover when Negron had a pass batted out of the air into his own hands for a negative nine-yard loss. Then Negron dropped back to pass and the rain-slicked ball just fell out of his hand before his throwing motion began. The Mounties recovered the fumble on the BC 14, but they could only get a 28-yard field goal to give them a 10-7 lead with just over 12 minutes remaining in the first half.
“We gave ourselves a chance to play in the first half. Obviously some things went wrong. Ball slips out of the guy’s hand coming out, they get a field goal and the ball slips out of our hand going in,” said head coach Jeff Chudy.
After another Lamaison touchdown pass to make it 17-7, BC had chances to draw closer. The Renegades wouldn’t have trouble moving the ball down the field, but when they got to the red zone, they were denied.
On a 10-play drive, Negron completed passes with ease and rushed for 10 yards – nine yards and one yard – converting on a fourth and short, then on the next play from the Mt. SAC one-yard line Negron reversed out of the pocket and between the snap and the handoff the ball popped out and rolled to the 20-yard line. Mt. SAC recovered the fumble but again couldn’t add to the lead.
After several punts, the teams went into halftime with a 17-7 Mt. SAC lead.
After the kick return, BC went three-and-out and on the Mounties first possession of the half they went five plays for 41 yards and scored on a Lamaison to Richard Parham 10-yard pass, but kicker Jeremy Brown missed the extra point making the score 23-7 with 10 and a half minutes to play in the third.
The Renegades tried to get back into the game with a 15-play drive that died after a sack on first down, a false start and an incomplete pass on second down, another incomplete pass on third and another sack by the game’s defensive MVP Boja Filimoeatu on fourth and goal from the Mounties 12-yard line.
Mt. SAC would score again with a 28-yard pass from Lamaison, this time to sophomore tight end Ernst Brun.
In the fourth quarter, BC added another touchdown and missed the two-point conversion, and, after a failed onside kick, Mt. SAC scored again giving them a 36-20 lead.
BC added their last points of the game on a three-yard pass to Loren Kolb for the touchdown. The Renegades again attempted an onside kick and again it failed giving Mt. SAC the ball with 47 seconds left. The Mounties ran out the clock and advanced to the next round to play Cerritos College, which defeated Saddleback College.
“Anytime you beat a team like BC, it’s a quality win. We’re down to the four best teams in Southern California, and BC has had a great year,” said Mt. SAC head coach Bob Jastrab. “It’s hard to beat a team twice, and our defense came up big for us several times this game.”
Chudy talked about how the game went.
“Those guys just played better football than we did. They had fewer turnovers and they executed. Defensively, I thought we played well at times. We just gave up some big plays,” said Chudy. “When you get stopped twice on the one yard line, what do you expect? We can’t have that kind of game against a team like that. There’s a reason why those guys are 11-0.”
A disappointed Negron spoke after the game.
“All the fumbles and turnovers, playing with a wet ball and things just turned their way. First and goal from the one we need to put that in,” said Negron.
Jastrab talked about Negron, saying, “That quarterback is a special guy. You just can’t say enough about him.”
Jastrab also mentioned what he thought was the Renegades strong point and what may have hurt them.
“They’re well balanced, and they do a solid job in all three phases, but I think the sloppy field might have hurt them, and they just seemed like they ran out of gas,” he said.
In the past four meetings between the Mounties and the Renegades, Mt. SAC has won all four: twice at home in the playoffs, and two times in Memorial Stadium.
On Nov. 27, Mt. SAC beat Cerritos 51-0 in the Southern California final to advance to the state championship game against City College of San Francisco. In the northern region, CCSF defeated Fresno City 52-15 to advance.
Mt. SAC and San Francisco will play for the state championship Dec. 11 at Mt. SAC.