COC football stays undefeated with win over East Los Angeles College

Cougars freshman running back Kartilus McFadden stiff arms a defender in a win over East LA College at College of the Canyons Saturday night. Cory Rubin/The Signal
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It didn’t take long for the College of the Canyons football team to showcase its potent offense on Saturday night.

On the very first play of the game, Canyons quarterback Wyatt Eget found wide receiver Brandon Pierce for a 68-yard touchdown, giving the Cougars a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.

The No. 2 ranked Canyons (7-0 overall, 2-0 in conference) defeated East Los Angeles College 31-9 at College of the Canyons.

“That was huge. Our biggest problem is we start slow, so I made sure to start off fast, get on a good streak and start scoring,” Eget said about the opening play. “Right off the snap I knew Brandon is the fastest guy in the nation, I took a step back and he was wide open. It was huge, a very big play.”

“Wyatt did great. First play, touchdown. It set a tone for the game,” added defensive end Tre Easter.

Eget didn’t stop there, as he continued to move the ball down the field on the third drive of the game by finding wide receiver Leroy Deshazor, once for a 13-yard gain and again for a 21-yard gain.

Eget capped off the drive with a 27-yard touchdown to a leaping Jarrin Pierce, who made a number of highlight plays throughout the evening including a remarkable one-handed grab in the first quarter.

Cougars sophomore wide receiver Jarrin Pierce stiff-arms a Huskies defender in a win over East LA College at College of the Canyons Saturday night. Cory Rubin/The Signal

“When the ball is in my hands I make plays. I got to do what I got to do to contribute to the game,” Jarrin said. “The goal is always a touchdown, but I take it one play at a time. I know how to make people miss.”

The Cougars scored once more to the start the second quarter, when Eget took it in himself on a 12-yard run, giving COC a 21-0 edge.

Eget finished the game 22-for-36 for 314 yards, three touchdowns and one interception in addition to 13 yards on the ground plus the rushing score.

Jarrin Pierce finished the contest with six catches for 50 yards and a touchdown.

East Los Angeles (3-4 overall, 1-1 in conference) chipped away at the lead with three field goals in the second quarter, making the score 21-9 at halftime.

A couple of penalties and a bad snap on a punt put the Cougars defense in a tough spot, giving the Huskies great field position. The defense was able to hold the Huskies at bay, however, only allowing the three field goals and no touchdowns.

Canyons defense was able to completely stifle East LA’s offense in the second half, not allowing a score for the final 30 minutes of the contest.

“I love my defense, they are everything on this team,” Eget said. “We put them in some bad spots and they just shut them down. It’s every game. If they can keep this going I think we can take this very far.”

“It’s about the work we put in through the week and the year,” Easter said. “We don’t want nobody to have nothing because we know they didn’t work as hard as us. In those situations, we hang our hats on the work we’ve already put in.”

COC held East LA to 204 yards of total offense and intercepted three different Huskies quarterbacks in the second half.

Brennan Williams, Madison Wheeler and Khalid Taylor came up with the interceptions.

Cougars freshman Madison Wheeler picks off the Huskies in the end zone in a win over East LA College at College of the Canyons Saturday night. Cory Rubin/The Signal

With the game trending in the Cougars’ favor in the fourth quarter, Eget once again found Brandon Pierce for a 68-yard score, all but eliminating the Huskies chances at getting back into the contest.

Brandon Pierce finished the game with three catches for 142 yards and two touchdowns.

Kicker Tanner Brown added a 35-yard field goal early in the third quarter, his only field goal attempt of the game.

Canyons will look to continue its undefeated season next Saturday, taking on conference rival Ventura College.

Ventura defeated Canyons last season 45-30, so the Cougars are definitely preparing for a battle.

“We’re going to go back to the drawing board, watch the film, see what they did tonight and take it one game at a time,” head coach Ted Iacenda said. “They’re the reigning conference champs several years in a row, so we got to come ready to work.”

The game kicks off at 6 p.m. at College of the Canyons.

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