Still three wins from being over .500, the Bakersfield College Renegades are at least a successful football team for a change. BC dominated on both sides of the ball, by scoring a season high in points with 28 and forced El Camino College to turn the ball over three times.
The Renegades scored their most points since last year’s state championship game in their win over the Warriors. Their defense came away with three interceptions and halted El Camino’s four-game winning streak.
They beat the Warriors 28-0 on Oct. 12, raising their record to 2-4 and were able to get their first win in front of its home crowd.
“I think we came out and played with a lot of energy and enthusiasm,” said BC head coach Jeff Chudy.
Chudy said he believes the turning point of the game was when his team was able to stop El Camino on fourth and goal at the 3-yard line in the first quarter, preventing the Warriors from putting the ball into the end zone.
After the stop, BC got the ball on its own 1-yard line and drove the ball 99 yards down the field in 14 plays. The six minute and twenty-eight second drive was capped off when quarterback Cruise Adams hooked up with wide receiver Triton Douglas on a three-yard touchdown pass. Douglas finished the game with two receptions, 16 yards and two receiving touchdowns. He and Adams connected later in the game on a 13- yard pass in the third quarter after leading the game 7-0 at halftime.
Adams completed eight of 12 passes with 101 yards through the air and a rushing touchdown. Adams also got a big lift from running backs Preston Hodges and Kwame Johnson. Hodges rushed for a team high of 159 yards on 28 carries to go along with Johnson’s 84 yards on 18 carries and one touchdown. The team had a total of 276 rushing yards on 57 attempts.
When asked how the team was able to run the ball so effectively, Chudy said his defense did a good job of getting off the field and giving the offense a chance to get on the field.
“I thought our coaches did a great job of game planning, and most importantly our coaches executed,” he said.
“The biggest thing is we needed to play better and we did,” said Chudy when was asked about the feeling of getting the first home win of the season.
Chudy felt that the win was much-needed going into the bye week and playing Moorpark this Saturday in a conference home game. Though BC didn’t turn the ball over against El Camino, Chudy explained that he would like to make fewer mistakes and cut down on penalties and turnovers against Moorpark and try to get his players to become a more disciplined team.
“I just thought our guys executed the game plan. They played well, they played fast, and we had our eyes in the right spot on defense.”
BC (2-4, 0-2) will be seeking its first conference win of the season against Moorpark (4-3, 1-2).