Huskies Surge Ahead Late, Holds Off Citrus in Glendora

by Cerwin D Haynes

(photos by Mario Villegas)

Despite a conference title being a bit out of reach for East LA College football due to last week's loss to Mt. SAC, the Huskies traveled down to Glendora with plenty to fight for - particularly a postseason bowl bid for the third straight season. The first step in jockeying for said bowl positioning would be to face a Citrus College Owls team that's also trying to finish the season strong to secure a bowl bid.

The road Green (5-3, 3-2 Nat'l Central) needed some major fourth quarter magic, but they got the job done in holding off the home Owls (5-3, 2-3 Nat'l Central) 33-28. Trailing 28-17 with over nine minutes left in the fourth quarter, ELAC scored 16 unanswered points on two touchdown passes from sophomore QB Jeliun Carter to fellow soph WR Deandre Knox plus a Ethan Rodriguez FG.

The Huskies actually started the game by scoring the first 17 points, but ultimately found themselves trailing by 11 due to Citrus storming back to score four-straight touchdowns between the late second quarter and early fourth. In fact, Citrus had the ball in East LA territory with said 11-point lead in the fourth quarter thanks to a Leonard Adams interception. But ELAC would begin their comeback with their defense: after being given significant breathing room thanks to two offensive holding calls that negated positive rush yardage for the Owls, ELAC had Citrus facing 3rd and 24 from their 43. Then, DLs Travon Thomas and Demari Harvey combined to sack Citrus QB Jack Benson to force the Owls to punt. A personal foul call on ELAC after the punt return had the Huskies starting from their own 13.

On first down, Jeliun Carter - getting the start behind center today for the Pack - used his feet to scamper 17 yards to the ELAC 30. Sophomore RB Jake Honstetter was stuffed for a loss of a yard on the next play, but that just set up the incoming fireworks: with 2nd-and-11 from the ELAC 29, Carter faked the ball to te receiver in motion and dropped back. Off his back foot, Carter fired a deep pass that Deandre Knox caught crossing the field right to left. Knox then turned upfield and sprinted up the far sideline, eluding a tackler at the Citrus 28 and taking it to the house - a huge 71-yard catch and run for six. The two-point try failed, but the Huskies were within a touchdown, trailing 28-23. 

After the ensuing kickoff and a seven-yard return, Citrus began their possession at their 22. On first down, Benson handed the ball off to Tayvonne Miller who immediately dropped the ball. It was recovered by ELAC DB DJ Shanks at the Owls' 24 - another big break for the Pack. Three plays later, on 3rd-and-8 from the Citrus 22, Carter fakes a handoff and launches a deep pass towards the left side of the endzone. Knox - who appeared to initially run an out pattern - made eye contact with Carter and suddenly turned upfield along the far sideline as Carter let it fly. Speeding past the nearest defender, Knox jump-catches the ball two yards inside the endzone for the go-ahead touchdown. The extra point gave the Huskies a 30-28 lead with 7:04 left - more than enough time for Citrus to come from behind... again. 

But ELAC's defense wasn't done yet with making late-game plays.

The defense forced a 3-and-out on the next Citrus possession. The Owls punted to the ELAC 25 and Shoes Brinkley fielded the punt, advancing to the 33. Citrus' defense forced East into a 3-and-out, but that's when the Huskies would again take advantage of a Citrus miscue:

• ELAC freshman P Aidan Driscoll - who had struggled with his punting all game - has his best kick, a 67-yard punt (with a defender in his face) that landed at the Citrus 18 and took a Huskies' bounce, traveling what looked like 17 yards before an ELAC player downed the ball right outside the Citrus goal line. However, right as the ball initially landed, it grazed Owls' WR Jesse Carmona who was back to field the return, making it a live ball. The referees conferred on the field and ruled an ELAC recovery of the ball at the Citrus 8-yard line with 4:33 left.

A touchdown by the Huskies would have almost assuredly put the game away, but the Huskies also wanted to score while chewing up some clock. They ran three straight times to keep the clock going, but only gained a total of three yards as Citrus anticipated the Pack's strategy. ELAC settled for another Ethan Rodriguez field goal, a 22-yarder, to bump the lead to five, 33-28, with 2:38 to go. The ensuing kickoff (a 61-yard kick by freshman K Kirobi Pinto) was returned by Carmona from the Citrus 4 to the 15. 

Citrus had enjoyed a 151-yard rushing game on the day, but needing to go the length of the field in a short amount of time, the Owls had to resort to passing. Benson got one first down on a 10-yard completion to Carmona, but his pass on the next play was picked off by Rayshun Dorsey, who returned the interception 17 yards to the Citrus 17 with 1:54 remaining. Another chance for the ELAC offense to be in great position to put away the game - except a personal foul call backed up the Huskies to their 32 and ELAC could only gain one yard in three downs. East LA Head Coach Bobby Godinez elected to have Driscoll punt to pin Citrus deep instead of going for it or attempting a long field goal. It almost worked - Driscoll's punt sailed out of bounds at the Citrus 13, but ELAC again drew an unsportsmanlike penalty, so the strategy went for naught as the Owls got the ball on their 28 with 1:17 left and perhaps a small window left open for Citrus...

...Or not: on 2nd-and-7 from the Citrus 31, Benson aired a deep pass down the far sideline that sophomore DB Shoes Brinkley read the whole way. Breaking towards the sideline, Brinkley intercepted the pass at the ELAC 42 with 50 seconds left. ELAC would kneel down to kill the rest of the clock and escape with a critical win.

HUSKY BITS

• Carter got the start today for freshman QB Trilian Harris, who appeared to hurt his shoulder in last week's game against the Mounties. He was only 7-19 for 178 yards and three INTs, but he threw for two TDs in the fourth quarter, using his legs and arm when it was needed the most. He also ran 14 times for 42 yards with two TDs.
• Knox finished with five catches for 139 yards and two TDs.
• The speedy Tyler Smith lead the Huskies running game with 51 yards on eight carries.
• ELAC outgained Citrus in total yardage 363 to 295. 
  • The East LA defense did have trouble again against the run, yielding 153 rushing yards to the Owls. However, the unit often had to start defending possessions on their own side of field due to short or shanked punts.
• The Huskies turned the Owls over five times (three picks and two fumble recoveries), with four of the five turnovers in the fourth quarter.

NEXT UP:

East LA's final two games of the regular season will be back home at Weingart. They'll host San Bernardino Valley College next Saturday November 4, followed by Cerritos on November 11. One more win will net the Huskies their first winning season as a member of the National division, and their first winning season since 2017.