Glendora, CA (Football) -- The Citrus College football team played its best game of the season, as they stunned 9th ranked Chaffey College 27-20 on Saturday afternoon. The Citrus College offense didn’t turn the ball over for the first time all season, while the defense had a season high three interceptions in the upset victory, their first conference win of the year.
While the Fighting Owls finished on top, the game certainly didn’t start like Citrus had hoped. After being forced into a three and out in their first offensive series, the Citrus offense turned the ball over to the Panthers who promptly marched 66 yards in just three plays taking a 7-0 lead in the first three minutes of the contest.
After that opening Panther drive, the Citrus defense settled down forcing Chaffey into three and outs in five of the next six Panther drives. With the defense nailing down the other teams offense, the Citrus offense was given plenty of time to get things rolling. That finally happened with just over two minutes left to play in the first half, when freshman quarterback David Potts scored on a one yard TD run tying the game up at 7-7 going into halftime.
With momentum swinging their way Citrus continued to pile on the Panthers in the third quarter. The Fighting Owls opened up the third frame, when Citrus’ Jermal James intercepted an AJ Springer pass at the Citrus 14 yard line, and took the ball 86 yards to the house, giving the Fighting Owls at 14-7 lead.
Holding a lead, the Citrus offense turned to their running game which had success for the first time all season. In their next scoring drive, the Fighting Owls handed off the ball to freshman running back Isaac Tucker on three straight plays, setting up the Panthers for their second score of the game. With Chaffey focusing on the run, Potts tossed the ball to Leander Benjamin who took the ball and passed it to a wide-open Adolph Overstreet down the field for a 33 yard score.
Chasing a two touchdown Citrus lead, the Panthers would finally break through the Citrus defense, scoring as time expired in the third quarter when back-up quarterback Gregory Sprowles scrambled for a six yard score drawing Chaffey to within a touchdown.
The Fighting Owls quickly answered though, taking the ensuing drive 54 yards in just 5 plays, as Potts hooked up with Jonathan Price for a 21 yard strike. From there the Citrus defense would buckle back down, giving up a final Chaffey touchdown that ended up being fruitless.
In the win, Citrus was led by Potts who finished with 211 yards passing and two touchdowns (one passing, one rushing). Tucker would also finish the day with a big game, becoming the first Citrus running back to run for over 100 yards this season, finishing with 117 yards on 25 carries. Wide-receiver Overstreet would also have his second straight big game with four catches for 112 yards and a score.
Defensively Citrus was led by Phillip Chase (9 tackles, a tackle for a loss, and a forced fumble) and Mark Gadea (9 tackles, a tackle for a loss, 2 pass break-ups, and a quarterback hurry) who both tied for a game high in tackles.
With the win Citrus improves to 2-6 overall and 1-3 Central Conference play, while Chaffey falls 4-3 overall and 1-2 in conference games. The Fighting Owls will get a bye next week, before playing host to El Camino College in their final home game of the season. The Warriors are ranked fourth in the nation by JCGridwire.com. Kick-off is set for 1:00 PM.
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