The SRJC football team dominated both sides of the ball resulting in a 37- 10 win over Foothill College in the 11th annual Clo Classic Oct. 20 at Bailey Field.
The Bear Cubs took control of the game at the end of the first quarter when Garrett Guanella intercepted a pass for a 62-yard touchdown return, giving the team an early 7-0 lead.
SRJC scored two more touchdowns in the second quarter: one on a 15-yard pass from quarterback David Sowards to wide receiver Logan Valencia and another Sowards 68-yard pass to Jordan Bergstrom.
In the second half, the Bear Cubs kept the momentum going when Sowards threw a 38-yard touchdown pass to Terrance Drew, making the score 34-3 with 2:03 left in the third quarter.
The Bear Cubs’ win was a collective effort from the offense, defense and special teams. “Every game we play, win or lose, is a collective effort by all three phases of the game,” said head coach keith Simons.
Sowards took control of the offense, throwing for 371 yards and three touchdowns. Contributing to the offenses’ success, running back Spencer Morrow had 16 carries for 92 yards, averaging 5.8 yards per carry. “I know I could have had more yards, but I was making the wrong reads early in the game,” Morrow said. “But the game went good overall.”
Simons expressed another opinion about the offense, “I think our offensive line played their best game by far as a group and that really showed. We had over 500 yards on offense and they played pretty good.”
SRJC’s defense played a vital role with two interceptions and 4 total sacks. Also, kicker Lee Aranda tied an SRJC record going 3-3 in field goal attempts (30, 39, 25).
This win was crucial for SRJC as it marked their second league game, leveling their record to 1-1 in conference. “We needed this win badly,” Simons said. “This puts us tied for second in conference and we basically control our own destiny the rest of the way.”
Hoping to win their second straight game the Bear Cubs took on De Anza College Oct. 27 at Bailey Field.
The Bear Cubs took an early lead with a 5-yard Sowards pass to Bergstrom and another 18-yard pass to Drew leaving the score at 14-0 with 1:35 left in the first quarter.
The Dons rallied back with a 6-yard pass from quarterback Josh McCain, however the two-point conversion rush by Trevor Pardula failed. Less than five minutes later De Anza scored again when McCain ran for a 2-yard touchdown.
The Bear Cubs managed to kick a field goal and maintain the lead, but De Anza pulled things together and scored three straight touchdowns to leave the score at 34-17.
The Bear Cubs scored twice more with 36 seconds left in the contest, but the squad’s last-chance effort was not enough, finalizing the score at 34-31.
The Bear Cubs fell to 1-2 in conference and 3-5 overall after the game. The team’s next game will be at San Francisco City College at 1 p.m. Nov. 3.