Thursday, October 9th, was the MSJC Eagles’ annual homecoming football game against the Saddleback College Bobcats. Before the game, the Student Government Association (SGA) hosted a Homecoming Tailgate. The theme was Pink Out, and everyone was decked out in their pink gear. There was a live DJ put on by the radio station, 99.1 KGGI, multiple food trucks, and games. There were also a few clubs hosting tables, including the SGA, the Helping Hands Club, and Umoja. The cheerleaders were present, practicing their routines before the game. Outside of the family of the players, there wasn’t much of a student presence at the tailgate. This is to be expected. Community colleges aren’t known for their sports atmospheres the same way universities are, especially at a commuter school like MSJC. Regardless of the overall small student turnout, Umoja and SGA made sure to keep the energy up heading into gametime.
Struggling to Get Out of the Blocks
The first quarter saw both teams getting off to a slow start. Saddleback would open the scoring with a well-executed 56-yard flea-flicker touchdown pass from quarterback Tyler Dudden (#18) to receiver Nicholas Gentilella (#6). Even after gaining a little momentum, including a huge catch from receiver Dante Sams (#1), courtesy of quarterback Cole Vasquez (#4), the Eagles would ultimately end the first quarter scoreless.
The Eagles’ offensive woes continued into the second quarter. They would try to establish a run game and a short passing game, but to no avail. However, the Bobcats’ run game proved to be a thorn in the side of the Eagles’ defense. And while the Bobcats’ run game proved to be formidable, the Bobcats also suffered from their own penalty struggles. The Eagles caught a break with the defense causing a turnover courtesy of cornerback Dojonni Bryant (#7) snagging an interception and giving the offense instant red zone field position. The Eagles offense would capitalize and tie the game at seven apiece, but it was short-lived as the Bobcats’ offense cruised down the field and executed an effective two-minute offense to take the lead. At halftime, the game score was 14-7, Bobcats.
The Struggles Continued…
The first drive of the second half saw the Eagles come out looking re-energized. Led by quarterback Julian Silva (#16), the Eagles convincingly drove down the field before stalling due to penalties and settling for a field goal. While the end result was disappointing, the spark was there.
However, that spark would never truly ignite into the fire the Eagles needed. The trends from the first half continued for the Eagles in the second half. A combination of penalties on both sides of the ball and missed tackles plagued the Eagles. Ultimately, they didn’t follow up with any more points in the third quarter and only added another field goal in the fourth. The Bobcats, while also struggling with penalties, would capitalize on the Eagles’ mistakes and score a touchdown in the third quarter. They capped off the game with a field goal in the fourth quarter. The final score was 24-13, Bobcats. While they showed promise at moments in the game, the Eagles never really felt like they were in this game, regardless of what the scoreboard showed.
A Season of Highs and Very Low Lows…
The disappointing result of the homecoming game could serve as a microcosm for the theme of the MSJC football season: Inconsistency. A disappointing loss in week one was followed by back-to-back blowout wins. Those wins would be followed by a three-game losing streak, capped off by the disappointing homecoming performance. They would then bounce back with a double-overtime victory over the Chaffey College Panthers the very next week, 34-31. That encouraging performance would be overshadowed by a blowout loss at Riverside the very next week, 44-12, and a closer loss to San Diego Mesa, 35-31. At the time of writing, the Eagles have just closed out their season with a 35-28 loss to an equally struggling Palomar team. The Eagles fell behind early with a score of 21-0 at the end of the first quarter. While the Eagles would try and rally a comeback, they couldn’t overcome the early deficit. The Eagles would end their season with a league record of 1-6 and an overall record of 3-7. The Eagles came into this season attempting to build on their solid 4-3 league record from last season, but that obviously didn’t end up being the case. Moments of promise were shown throughout the season, but all too often, those moments didn’t turn into wins. This could be summed up by a question that many had going into each game: what version of the Eagles are we going to get?
