Owls Score Big in Home Opener

In its first home game of the year, Citrus College grabbed a big 62-32 victory over the College of the Desert Saturday night.

The Owls improve to 2-0 on the young year, while the Roadrunners drop to 0-2.

Citrus finished with 294 passing yards and 273 rushing yards for 567 yards of total offense in the victory.

Defensively, the Owls had two sacks for five yards from Jackson Belville and Jacob Cisneros and three interceptions for 58 yards. Darren Mercer, Josh Stills (60 yards), and Avery Wold each had an interception.

Both teams got into the endzone in the first quarter, but the Owls took a 7-6 lead after converting the extra point kick. Kasmir Dina grabbed a 14-yard pass from Adam Urena to score the touchdown.

After Desert ran in a touchdown early in the second, but once again the Owl defense prevented the visitors from converting a two-point conversion.

The Owls responded with back-to-back touchdowns to jump in front 21-12. Dru Thompson scored the first touchdown, snatching a 13-yard pass to finish a four-play drive in just 42 seconds for the Owls. The drive started with Levi Currier recovering a fumble at the Desert 29-yard line.

With just about a minute and a half left before halftime, the Roadrunners struck again, but Jacob Ray secured the kickoff and returned it for a 92-yard touchdown. Ivan Castro's PAT was good once again, putting the Owls in front 28-18 at the break. 

Citrus kept pouring it on in the third with Jacob Ray scoring a 60-yard pass from Urena and Dina rushing for 40 yards 42-18. Trent Young ran in a seven-yard touchdown just before time ended in the third, giving the Owls a 49-24 lead.

Desert managed to score once more in the fourth, but it was all the Owl defense would allow the visitors.

On the other side of the ball, Young ran in a 43-yard touchdown with just under 10 minutes left on the clock and Robert Frutos snuck in a one-yard run to cap the scoring, 62-32.

The Owls remain at home, hosting Grossmont next week for a 6:00 p.m. game time.