The MSJC football team led by two points at the half, but were out scored 26-9 in the second as they lost for the first time this season 38-23 to visiting San Bernardino Valley.
The Eagles got off to a quick start as Brett Virgil and C.J. Sullivan teamed up for a 25 yard touchdown pass on MSJC's fifth offensive play of the game to jump out to a 7-0 led. Late in the first the Wolverines would get on the board on a five yard TD pass, but the extra point was no good and MSJC led after the first period 7-6. Midway through the second Virgil hit Sullivan again this time the duo covered 73 yards on the scoring strike and the Eagles pushed their lead to 14-6. San Bernardino would cut the lead to 2 with 4:08 left before halftime on a 25 yard pass by Jeremy Moussa, but the Wolverines two point conversion failed and the Eagles led 14-12 at the break.
The Eagles received the kick off to start the second half, but were quickly forced into a punting situation at their own 16 yard line. On the punt attempt the snap eluded the grasp of Benjamin Vivanco and San Bernardino recovered the loose ball in the end zone to take their first lead of the day at 18-14. The Eagles did respond on their following possession as Virgil threw his third TD pass of the day to Alonzo Bell from 17 yards out, capping an 8 play 54 yard drive to reclaim the lead at 21-18. The Eagles looked poised the extend their lead as Steven Bradshaw picked off a Moussa pass on the ensuing drive and returned it 20 yards to the Wolverines 25 yard line, but the Eagle offense stalled and turned the ball over on downs without adding any points. The Wolverines took the lead for good when they scored with 1:44 left in the third on a two yard run, MSJC did block the extra point and Dylan Morris ran it back all the way to the end zone to cut SBVC's lead to 24-23. But, an interception by San Bernardino on the opening drive of the fourth set up another Wolverine touchdown and the Eagles trailed by 8 with 13:24 to play in the game. MSJC could not push the ball into San Bernardino territory the rest of the way and the Wolverines added one more TD with 3:09 to play to put the game out of reach.
Virgil finished the day going 14 of 35 passing for 244 yards with 3 touchdowns and one interception. Sullivan had 2 receptions for 98 yards, running back Sherod White ran for 57 yards on 19 carries and had a team high 5 receptions for 36 yards. On defense Bradshaw finished with a team high 11 tackles to go with his interception. Jayden Dawson added 7 tackles while Michael Erim, Adrian Sanchez, and Sam Suggs each had a sack.
The loss was the first of the season for the Eagles as they dropped to 6-1 on the year and 1-1 in American Mountain League play. San Bernardino improved to 6-1 overall and 2-0 in conference action. MSJC, who has three games left on the schedule, will travel to Lancaster on Saturday to take on Antelope Valley at 2 pm, before returning to Carl Quandt Stadium on November 9th to host College of the Desert in the annual Palms to Pines Trophy game.