After losing in a four-overtime game against Ventura College, the Renegades jumped all over College of the Canyons from the kickoff on their way to a 45-7 victory on Sept. 29.
“I thought we did outstanding,” said Bakersfield College coach Jeff Chudy. “I thought we sent a message from the opening kickoff. We did a great job dislodging the ball and recovering the fumble. It was just a great message our guys sent. They were very resolved and we played with a chip on our shoulder. That’s kind of what we said all week. It was a tough way to end the game last week (against Ventura), and we kind of felt that the officials jobbed us and which on film it showed that, but our guys did a nice job of responding.”
The Renegades (3-2) started off the game fast by forcing a fumble on the kickoff and recovered the fumble at Canyon’s 27-yard line.
Five plays later, running back Jalen Sykes scored a touchdown on a 5-yard run. The Cougars tried to answer back, marching down to BC’s 21-yard line to attempt a field goal, but BC cornerback Mercy Maston blocked the kick.
BC then started their next drive at the 1-yard line and drove 99 yards on 10 plays to score another touchdown. Canyons, once again, drove the ball effectively trying to get some momentum before the half, but their drive stalled at BC’s 25-yard line. With 44 seconds left, Canyons went for it on fourth down, but cornerback Chris Hannible intercepted the pass from Canyons quarterback Ryan Kasdorf and took it 96 yards for a touchdown.
“I read the quarterback, and then just waited for the blocks,” said Hannible. “It came straight to me, and then I just had to take it to the house.”
BC’s defense forced four turnovers, and two of them came when they were backed up in their own red zone. The Cougars were able to get into BC’s red zone five times, but they were only able to score once, and that came in the fourth quarter. Hannible, who had six tackles and an interception for a touchdown, led the Renegades defense.
“The defense, they came out playing hard,” said Hannible. “We held them even when they got close in the red zone. So we still held our ground. We didn’t give up. Even when they got yards, we kept going hard.”
BC also was able to improve to 3-0 at home behind 268 total rushing yards. Running back Curtis McGregor led the team with 126 rushing yards and one touchdown on 14 carries.
“I think we played excellent,” said McGregor. “The running game went real well in the first half. The offensive line blocked hard, and it made a lot of stuff open up for us. It was very important to establish the run game from the start. A lot of people were thinking that our run game wasn’t so well. The o-line had a good week of practice and we just ran hard. Nobody took a play off, and we got the job done. We responded real well after last week. That’s probably one of the best responses that I’ve been a part of.”
Chudy commented on BC’s red-zone defense.
“I thought we played really well,” said Chudy. “Obviously, there were some things between the 20s that we didn’t execute very well, but once we got inside the 20, we created some turnovers. I think our guys are starting to believe that they shouldn’t panic and that they can stop anybody no matter where they are on the field. We always have that philosophy that no matter where you get put at you should be able to go three downs and out. Obviously, we would’ve hoped that they didn’t chew up a bunch of yardage between the 20s, but at the end of the day it was a good win for us. We needed this.
“I thought our running backs ran extremely hard, and our offensive line were challenged again. They had to respond. We had a great three quarters against Ventura and then just disappeared in the fourth quarter and overtimes. They came back and played with that chip on their shoulder. They pounded these guys. If you look at COC’s defense, it’s something that they take pride in. They’ve been playing pretty good coming in and our guys pounded them pretty hard. I was very proud how we performed.”
Chudy added that this was wide receiver Brock Martin’s first game back since getting injured in week 2 against Mt. SAC. Martin had one catch for 24 receiving yards in his first game back.
On Sept. 22, BC played against Ventura College, and they lost 30-24 in a game that took four overtime periods to decide the winner. BC was ahead 24-14 after an 80-yard touchdown pass from Burrell to Marquis Johnson. Going into the fourth quarter they held a 24-21 lead, but they didn’t score another point after that. BC had chances to win it in the second and third overtime periods, but they missed possible game-winning field goals. In the fourth overtime, Ventura running back DeMayre Williams scored on a 10-yard run. BC still had a chance to tie the game but failed to convert on a fourth down.
The Renegades are scheduled to play next at El Camino College on Oct. 6, and then have the next week off. After the bye week they’ll play at Moorpark College, and won’t have their next home game until Oct. 27 against Cerritos College.