Bobcats down Renegades in Patriotic Bowl

The Saddleback football team finished the season with a 48-45 win over Bakersfield College in the Patriotic Bowl on Tuesday inside the stadium.  The Bobcats finished the 2024 season 8-3.

Saddleback and Bakersfield last played in 2018 to finish the season, and Saddleback managed a three-point win against the Renegades in the Patriotic Bowl (38-35).  Tuesday's matchup proved to be nearly identical, with Saddleback hanging on for a three-point win in the 2024 Patriotic Bowl.

Saddleback and Bakersfield spent most of the day racing up and down the field.  The two offenses combined for 815 yards, lighting up the scoreboard.  In the end, Saddleback made big plays when it had to as Trey Kukuk picked up the Game MVP for the Patriotic Bowl.  Kukuk made the key play down the stretch when Saddleback was trying to run out the clock.  He (pictured below) called his own number on a read-option play on third-and-nine and scampered 52 yards for a first down in the final two minutes of the game to dash all hopes for the Renegades, who were out of timeouts.

Kukuk finished 20-of-27 for 203 yards and four touchdown passes in the game.  He also led the Bobcats with 63 yards on the ground.

Saddleback led by as many as 19 points in the third quarter and had a 16-point lead midway through the fourth quarter when Bakersfield came storming back.  The Renegades had a two-yard touchdown run from Jalen Hankins with 7:41 remaining to cut the Saddleback lead to 48-38.  Bakersfield then cut the lead to three with 4:06 remaining when Malachi Statler connected with Mekhi Smith for a 24-yard score.  Unfortunately for Bakersfield, the late scores would not be enough as the Bobcats managed to run out the clock in the final minutes with back-to-back first downs. 

Statler was named the Bakersfield Player-of-the-Game after finishing with 361 yards passing and three touchdown passes.  Saddleback's Enrique Amposta was named the Saddleback Player-of-the-Game after finishing with seven solo tackles and nine total tackles for the Bobcats.

Saddleback finishes the 2024 season 8-3 overall.  It is the first eight-win season for Saddleback since 2019.  Bakersfield finishes the season 6-5.