Costa Mesa, CA (Football) -- The Fighting Owls and quarterback John Garcia passed for a season high 340 yards, but the defense gave up a season high 34 points, as Citrus fell 34-24 to Fullerton College on Saturday night. The Owls were plagued again by turnovers as they were forced into three interceptions and one fumble in the inaugural Orange County Bowl.
Citrus was blitzed by the Hornets right out of the box as Fullerton scored 31 of the first 37 points to jump out to a seemingly commanding 31-6 lead with 10 minutes to play in the third quarter. The Owls would then try and make their move, but it proved to little to late as Citrus' comeback ran out of time.
After Garcia connected with tight-end Chris LaCount for an 11-yard score, Citrus would score again after a Fullerton field goal, as Garcia used a quarterback sneak from the Fullerton one yard line to cut the Fullerton lead to 16 as his touchdown made the score 18-34 after a failed two point conversion.
On the ensuing kick-off wide receiver Matt Cheaney recovered the Owls on-side kick attempt, and five plays later the Citrus struck pay-dirt again as Cheaney and Garcia hooked up for a 24 yard score. After yet another failed two-point conversion the Owls trailed by just 10 points with six minutes to play.
Citrus would attempt another on-side kick, but would fail to recover the ball this time, giving the Hornets possesion on the Citrus 45-yard line. Ten plays later, the Owls defense did what it has done all year long, as it forced Fullerton into a turnover to give the offense the ball back with three minutes to play.
With the ball back in their hands, Garcia and the Owls would move the ball into Fullerton territory, but after Garcia was dropped for a nine yard loss by Anthony Walton, Garcia threw three straight incompletions to end the Owls drive and season.
Garcia would finish the day 25 of 42 for 340 yards and two TD's. For the second week in a row Cheaney would prove to be his favorite target as he pulled in 7 balls for 95 yards and a score. Tony Davis was Citrus leading rusher as he picked up 30 yards on just seven carries.
Defensively, the Owls were led by a pair of linebackers as Gunnar Bundesmann and Devin Johnson led the team in tackles. Bundesmann recorded 9 tackles and a pass break-up, while Johnson recorded 7 and a forced fumble.
With the 2007 season coming to a close, the Fighting Owls record falls to 6-5 overall.
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