Mistakes on offense cost College of the Canyons victory on Thursday as the Fullerton Hornets spoiled the Cougars’ homecoming game.
The Hornets defeated the Cougars, 20-10, and COC dropped its fifth game of the season.
“It’s a struggle time, there’s no question right now,” Cougars head coach Ted Iacenda said. “But we’re going to work. We’re going to find our way out of this place. We’re going to keep working, we’re going to keep grinding.”
Besides the loss to Cerritos, the Cougars (1-5, 1-2) have lost four games this season by a combined 16 points, a feat that leaves Iacenda disappointed.
“We’ve got to get better at finishing,” Iacenda said. “We’ve got to find a way to finish these games. I mean, we’ve been close out of our five losses. We’ve been super close. We’ve got to find a way to finish.”
Fullerton (5-1, 3-0), ranked No.9 in the California Community College Athletic Association, proved to be difficult for COC.
The Hornets’ offense tallied 371 total yards and, despite the statistic, Iacenda still believes his defense played well and gave his offense its opportunities.
“There’s no question there. They’re battle tested. They’re blue collar. They work hard. And, yeah, they kept us in that game,” Iacenda said.
On the first drive, the Hornets drove down the field but were unable to capitalize in the red zone and took the early lead with the field goal.
In the first quarter, the Cougars had the opportunity to equalize when Fullerton punted the ball within their end zone and it landed on their own 28-yard line.
With field position within Hornets’ territory, the Cougars’ offense was set up nicely 9 yards away from the goal line following a 20-yard pass from Jazel Riley IV to Joseph Saenz.
But COC wouldn’t equalize after Riley threw an interception in the end zone on third and goal.
And on the following drive, the Hornets made the Cougars pay as Fullerton scored a touchdown and extended the lead to 10-0 at the end of the opening quarter.
In the second quarter, COC had another missed opportunity to score.
Cougars’ running back Isaiah Rameau ran for a 60-yard touchdown, but the play was brought back following a flag that was called a false start in the offense.
The drive stalled out, and the Cougars had to punt the ball back.
And with less than two minutes remaining in the first half, the Cougars had a methodical drive down the field at the Hornets’ red zone and attempted a field goal.
In the final seconds, the kick was blocked by Fullerton defender Dez Polamalu, and the Cougars went into halftime down 10 points.
In the second half, the Cougars scored their first points of the game thanks to a timely pass inference call on Fullerton’s defense.
Following a flag that gave the Cougars’ offense possession at the 8-yard line, Canyons’ kicker Dylan Gomez nailed the kick through the uprights.
After some three-and outs by both teams in the third quarter, the Cougars came out in the fourth with a point to prove.
On second and 11, Riley completed a pass to Crawford for 32 yards that set up the COC offense at the 5-yard line.
A few plays later, Riley scrambled into the end zone, and COC tied the game at 10 apiece.
But the game wouldn’t remain tied for long.
On the next drive, Chris Lundsberg threw a 41-yard touchdown pass to Logan Lester, and the Hornets took back the lead with eight minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.
In the end, Fullerton extended its lead to 20-10 following a field goal in what would be the final scoring play of the game as the Cougars did not score on their last drive.
After the game, Iacenda urged his team to remain motivated despite a 1-5 start to the season. All he wants for his team is to keep getting better.
“We’ve come in every Monday and we’re going to look in the mirror,” Iacenda said. “We’re going to evaluate how we did, what we did right, what we did wrong, and we’re going to get better.”
The Cougars play again Oct. 18 on the road at East Los Angeles with the game scheduled for 6 p.m.
