Last year, the Lancers beat the Eagles 28-26 in a heart breaker; this year the Eagles came out on top in a close game against the Lancers, and are the sole American Mountain League Conference Champions. This win did not come easy for the Eagles, as the Lancers did everything they could on defense to limit the Eagles’ explosive plays on offense. 

The Lancers started off with the football, but they were quickly forced to a three and out by the Eagles’ defense. The Eagles on their first possession were cut short after a fumble by the Eagles that the Lancers recovered. The Eagles’ defense prevented the Lancers from adding any additional damage by getting another stop. On the Eagles following drive, they were quickly held to a three and out by the Lancers defense. The first points of the game finally came on the Lancers next drive where they went down to Eagle territory and settled for a field goal to take a 3-0 lead over the Eagles. The Eagles were held scoreless in the first quarter. The Eagles would finally get on the board with a two yard touchdown run by Jaylen Magee. That touchdown gave the Eagles a 6-3 lead over the Lancers. On their next possession, the Lancers responded to the Eagles’ touchdown with a touchdown of their own, giving the Lancers a 9-6 lead over the Eagles. The Lancers went into halftime with a 9-6 lead over the Eagles. 

The Eagles had the football to start the second half, but the Lancers forced another stop against the Eagles. There was not much scoring from either side in the third quarter, as both defenses limited any offense from both teams. The first points of the second half came with a seven yard touchdown run by Jaylen Magee, his second touchdown of the day. This allowed the Eagles to retake the lead 13-9 over the Lancers. The Lancers, who were now behind again, fumbled on their first play of the drive that was quickly recovered by Naisir Morrow. This gave the Eagles the football back in Lancer territory. Robert Coleman completed a four yard pass to Jevin Josey for a touchdown, just a few plays after Morrow’s fumble recovery. The touchdown would extend the Eagles’ lead 20-9. The Lancers, who were now down by two possessions, were in need of a touchdown to cut the Eagles’ lead. The Lancers got a 33 yard touchdown of their own, which was the longest play from either team, to cut the Eagles’ lead 20-15, before completing a two point conversion to cut the lead to 20-17. The Lancers’ defense got a key three and out to give the ball back to their offense. The Lancers drove down to Eagle territory before the Eagles’ defense forced a 4th & 1 at the MSJC 17 yard line. Instead of going for the field goal to tie the game, they choose to go for the first down. Steven Bradshaw and Khamarli Jarrett stuffed the Lancers running back at the line of scrimmage to force a huge stop with just six minutes left in the game. The Eagles, who were now working to keep their lead, drove down the field and capped it off with another touchdown by Jaylen Magee. The touchdown sealed the deal for the Eagles, who won 27-17 over the Lancers. 

With the win, the Eagles finished the regular season 9-1 and were 5-0 in their conference. The Eagles became the 2022 American Mountain League Conference Champions.  

Stats: 

Mt. San Jacinto Offense:

Passing: Robert Coleman- 15-26, 175 Yards, 1-TD, 1-INT. 

Rushing: Robert Coleman- 26 Attempts, 74 Yards. 

    Jaylen Magee- 13 Attempts, 43 Yards, 3-TD. 

  Receiving: Emilio Valencia 3 Receptions, 46 Yards.

Pasadena City Offense:

Passing: Jakob Doolittle- 11-25, 119 Yards.

Rushing: Caleb Gardner- 19 Attempts, 126 Yards, 2-TD. 

Receiving: Isaiah Smalls- 3 Receptions, 45 Yards. 

Mt. San Jacinto Defense:

Quentin Evans- 5 Solo Tackles, 6 Assists, 1.5 TFL’s 

Nathan Ortiz- 1 Sack, 2 Solo Tackles, 4 Assists. 

Steven Bradshaw- 1 Solo Tackle, 11 Assists, 1.5 TFL’s 

Pasadena City Defense: 

Carlos Ramirez- 2.5 Sacks, 4 Solo Tackles, 6 Assists, 4.5 TFL’s, 1 Forced Fumble.

Osvaldo Raigosa- 1-INT, 5 Solo Tackles, 3 Assists, 0.5 TFL’s. 

Michael Prappas- 7 Solo Tackles, 2 Assists, 1 Sack.

Post-Game Interview:

Derrick: “Tough first half, but you guys battled back in the 2nd half. What was the messaging going into the locker room at the end of the first half?” 

Coach Mazzota: “They were doing a couple of things that we never practiced, some things they haven’t run all year. It’s a game that was a must win for them, so it was one of things that they were pulling out everything that they could pull out. A couple of things that we saw when we played them last year. It took us a bit to get into halftime and adjust to things, especially on the defense. They were in a situation defensively where they were just bringing the pressure non-stop.” 

Derrick: “What are your thoughts on Jaylen Magee’s performance? Three touchdowns.” 

Coach Mazzota: “Jaylen’s a stud. He’s hard to tackle. e’s big. He’s physical. He’s a hard guy to tackle. We always feel like if we get him running and him downhill a little bit, he can carry a couple guys with him and he did a good job with that today.”

Derrick: “One final question, how does it feel to be undefeated conference champions?”

Coach Mazzota: “That’s bigtime. Last year we won the conference, but we lost to these guys by two last year in a tough game. We were still conference champions, but they were in a situation where we had to share it. Our guys are fired up that we didn’t have a blemish on the conference record.”