Glendora, CA (Football) -- The 2009 Southern California Football Association season kicked off on Saturday afternoon, with the Citrus College Fighting Owls playing host to Santa Ana College. For the second year in a row, the Don’s played the Fighting Owls well in the season opener, taking another win, this time a 38-7 victory for Santa Ana.
Santa Ana dominated the game from pretty much the opening kick, rolling up over 400 yards of offense, and all the while holding Citrus to a measly 130 yards. The Don’s wasted little time in flexing their offensive muscle scoring just three minutes into the game when Eric Pesante danced into the end zone for an eight yard score.
Santa Ana would score thrice more over the next 19 minutes of play taking a nearly insurmountable 28-0 lead after Don’s quarterback Jordan Thomas connected with Parker Roberts for a 31 yard score with just over eight minutes to play in the second quarter.
After getting shut down with three and outs in three of their first five drives, the Citrus offense finally showed a spark, after the last Santa Ana score. Fighting Owls quarterback Byron Ingram engineered a nine play 73 yard drive that ended with a Citrus score, when Ingram found sophomore Tyra Waits in the end zone for a 31 yard strike.
That would be all the offense Citrus would muster however, as the Don’s added a field goal and touchdown late in the second half to seal up their first victory of the season.
Santa Ana was led by Thomas who ended his day completing 18 of his 28 passes for three TD’s and 225 yards passing. Roberts was Thomas’ favorite target as he caught five passes for 64 yards and two scores.
For Citrus, Ingram would finish his day 12 of 24 for 91 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Freshman Timothy Gilmore was the only other bright spot for the Owls rushing for 61 yards on just nine carries.
Defensively, Santa Ana was led by pre-season All-American linebacker Blake Poole who recorded a team high eight tackles (including one for a loss), while Citrus’ Bronze Withem recorded a game high 10 tackles.
Citrus will try and right the ship next weekend when they hit the road for the first time this season. The Fighting Owls will travel to Wilmington to take on LA Harbor. Kick-off is set for 6:00 PM.
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