Cougars Look To Remain Perfect Against Moorpark
Complete Game Notes
SANTA CLARITA, Calif. – The third-ranked College of the Canyons football team welcomes No. 17 Moorpark College tonight in the Cougar’s second National Division, Northern Conference game of the season and the Raiders’ conference opener. The unblemished COC (5-0) team remained at the No. 3 spot in the California Community College Football Coaches Association State Rankings, behind No.1 Mt. SAC (4-0) and No. 2 Sierra (5-0). Moorpark College (3-1) moved up two spots from No. 19 to No. 17 despite a bye last weekend.
The Cougars come off a 42-21 win against Allan Hancock last Saturday night. COC stifled Hancock in the first and a majority of the second quarter, holding the team to three-and-outs until about six minutes before the end of the half when the Bulldogs got their first first down. COC scored 35 consecutive points against the Bulldogs in one half of play before the Bulldogs could get some points on the board. Allan Hancock scored 14 points to end the game, but the push wasn’t enough to get past COC. Running back BJ Iverson finished the evening with 103 yards on 13 carries and wide receiver Nate Jones had two catches for 114 yards and one touchdown. Quarterback Joey Frias completed 5-of-11 passes for 139 yards and two touchdowns and Brad McClellan was 7-of-18 for 149 yards and one touchdown.
Freshman defensive back Josh Gibbs recorded 11 tackles, six solo, and defensive lineman Will Kanongata’a and Jonathon Hollins had 10 tackles each. Kanongata’a also had 2.5 sacks and Hollins had half a sack for the night.
Moorpark College enters tonight’s matchup after a two-week break. The Raiders last action came in a win against Santa Ana College, 26-20, on Sept. 27. Moorpark College lost a 17-point lead that they had built up through the halfway mark of the second quarter, as they watched Santa Ana put up 20 unanswered points and take a 20-17 lead with five minutes left in the third quarter. A Greg Davis interception for a score in the fourth quarter combined with a Moorpark College safety gave the Raiders a six-point lead in its final non-conference game of the season. The Raiders won, despite having almost 100 yards less of offensive yardage than Santa Ana – Moorpark gained 296 yards (128 rushing, 168 passing), while Santa Ana had 388 yards (74 yards rushing and 388 yards passing). Running back Matt Gentle had 22 carries for 76 yards and one touchdown and wide receiver Mark Urbina had seven catches for 62 yards. Quarterback Don Senegal was 17-of-29 for 168 yards and one touchdown. The Raider defense had four interceptions on the evening including two from defensive back Roy Holmes.
COC and Moorpark College haven’t played each other since the 2006 season when the Raiders broke COC’s 44-game conference win streak that dated back to the 2000 season. The Cougars do hold a 4-2 advantage against the Raiders since football was reinstated at College of the Canyons in 1998.
The Cougars enter tonight with the top scoring offense in the state (50.4 ppg), the most all-purpose yards per game (656.0 ppg) and rushing yards per game (248.8 ppg). COC is only allowing 15.2 ppg and holds teams to 69.8 rushing yards per night. Moorpark College will have to almost double its point production tonight to beat the Cougars because they only put up 29.5 ppg. The Raiders have a very balanced attack but may have a hard time with the rushing game of COC. Moorpark College is only giving up 117.2 yards per game to its opponents, but may have its hands full with the COC ground game that doubles that amount on average.
A few Cougars are on the verge of entering their name in the COC football record books. Running back Fred Winborn needs four more rushing touchdowns to tie the milestone of 29 rushing TDs in a career. He also only needs five more carries to tie for career carries. Wide receiver Hayo Carpenter is three more reception touchdowns away from tying the receiving touchdown career record.