The MSJC football team put up just over 400 yards of offense on Saturday night and it was enough as the Eagles defeated visiting Moorpark at HCN Bank Stadium 22-16.
Moorpark got on the scoreboard first as they connected on a 28-yard field goal to lead 3-0 early in the first quarter. The Eagles would answer with a pair of impressive methodical drives down the field to take control of the game before halftime. MSJC took the lead on a 14-play drive that went 71 yards and took 7:15 off the clock late in the opening period. The drive was capped by a 2-yard touchdown run by Daniel Mendoza. In the second quarter the Eagles pushed the lead to 14-3 on another long drive, this time taking the ball 86 yards on 17 plays and eating up over 8 minutes of game time. Logan Gonzalez completed 9 passes on the drive, 5 to Koa Apana before Mendoza scored again this time on a 4-yard run taking the game to halftime.
The Eagles were slow out of the gates in the second half and the Raiders took advantage as they scored 13 straight points. Moorpark took advantage of a misplayed punt attempt by the Eagles to score quickly on a 3 play 14 yard drive, they missed the two point conversion and MSJC held on to the lead 14-9 with 11:18 to play in the 3rd quarter. On Moorpark's next possession they would take the lead on a 22 yard touchdown pass to give them a 16-14 advantage with just over 5 minutes left in the period. The Eagles answered in a big way on their next possession as Gonzalez hooked up with Mateo Licon on the first play of the drive for an 89 yard touchdown pass. Gonzalez would then run in a two point conversion to give MSJC the lead back at 22-16. Both defenses came up big the rest of the way as neither team would add any more points in the game.
Gonzalez finished his day 30 of 51 passing for 333 yards, Apana made 12 receptions for 133 yards as his top target. Mendoza led the ground game with 25 carries for 73 yards. He also made 5 catches for 28. Jackson Weng added 3 receptions and Licon caught two balls for 92 yards.
On defense, Tyson Roberts, Nate Frankfather, and Jonah Sellers each had 5 tackles. Sellers added a sack, and Roberts also had a pair of tackles for loss.
The win improves the Eagles to 2-1 on the season, they will return home on Saturday September 28th when they host Fullerton College. Saturday's game at HCN Bank Stadium in Menifee kicks off at 6 pm.
Get your tickets for next week at the link MSJC Football Tickets