COD Football holds off Huskies for best start since 2023

The College of the Desert Roadrunners (4-2) fought back on the road to stun winless East Los Angeles (0-6), 24-21, on Saturday, securing their best start since 2023 and their fourth win in their last six games.

Freshman quarterback Alonso Cuevas (Holtville H.S.) set season highs in completions (7) and passing yards (148), including a 55-yard long and a third-quarter touchdown pass. He also led the ground game with season highs of 5 carries and 24 yards, capped by a 15-yard touchdown run early in the second half.

Freshman wide receiver Cameren Tryon (Palos Heights, Ill./Alan B. Shepard) caught his first touchdown of the season, plus season highs of six catches and 104 yards. Freshman running back Enrique Armas (Holtville H.S.) added a season-high 59 rushing yards on five carries, tying his season high for attempts.

Freshman kicker Kael Jahn (Cameron, N.C./Union Pines) stayed perfect on extra points (13-for-13) and booted a season-long 38-yard field goal with 2:11 remaining to put Desert ahead.

On defense, sophomore linebacker Donte Winfrey (Rancho Mirage H.S.) returned a fumble 27 yards for a touchdown late in the second quarter to tie the game at 7-7. Sophomore defensive lineman Ayden Ogilvie (Twentynine Palms H.S.) led the team with seven tackles (tying a season high), a season-high two pass breakups and four quarterback hurries. Sophomore linebacker Raejon Lavender (Detroit, Mich./Early College of Excellence) recorded six tackles, two for loss.

Sophomore linebacker Payton Reynolds (La Quinta H.S.) sealed the win with an interception with 12 seconds left, his second of the season, and finished with five tackles.

Series notes: Desert first played East Los Angeles in 1982 and now leads the series 10-5, including a 6-2 mark in Monterey Park. It was the teams' first meeting since the 2016 Patriotic Bowl and Desert's first win over the Huskies since 2015. Since 2014, COD is 3-1 against East LA, with two of the wins on the road.

Up next: COD returns home Oct. 17 to host Compton, in a game sponsored by Acme Corporation. The Roadrunners first met the Coyotes in 2014, when the school's mascot was the Tartars, and lead the series 7-0 (3-0 in Palm Desert).

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For additional information, please contact the COD Sports Information Office at 760.423.6641.

Information & Story provided by COD Sports Information. Photo by College of the Desert Public Information Office.