The MSJC football team wrapped up the regular season on Saturday night with a loss at Saddleback 41-19 but will get a chance to play in a bowl game for the fourth time in the past five seasons.
Saturday night the Eagles fell behind 24-0 before scoring their first points on the final play of the opening half. Logan Gonzalez connected with Christian Kretz on a 7-yard pass as time expired to cut the Bobcats lead to 24-7 at the break. MSJC did make a run at it in the third quarter as Gonzalez and Kretz hooked up again on a 2-yard strike to cut the lead to 24-13. The Eagles would push closer with 6:12 to play in the third when Gonzalez threw his third touchdown pass of the game this time to Jackson Weng from 26-yards out. The Eagles were unsuccessful on a two-point conversion and the score stood at 24-19. Unfortunately, that is as close as MSJC would get as the Bobcats scored 17 unanswered points the rest of the way for the win.
Gonzalez finished his regular season with an impressive performance passing for 444 yards on the night he threw three touchdown passes and was intercepted once. Kretz made a career high 13 receptions in the game while both Weng and Emillio Valencia went over 100 yards receiving. Alrex Vega led the ground attack with 58 yards on 12 carries. The MSJC defense was led by Chase Shackleford as he made a team high 9 tackles. DeShawn Brooks added 6 tackles and Vincent Perryman recorded a sack.
The good news for the Eagles is that despite the loss they will head into The Jersey Mike's Valencia Bowl on Sunday November 24th at College of the Canyons. MSJC, who finished third in the National Division Southern League with an overall 6-4 record, will take on the Cougars who finished 7-3 and tied for second in the National Division Northern League.
The Eagles head into the bowl game with some impressive numbers from the regular season. Gonzalez will enter the contest averaging the second most yards per game through the air in the SCFA. He has racked up 3,191 passing yards and thrown 25 touchdowns this year. Koa Apana has been on the receiving end of 55 passes this season while Kretz has pulled in 54. Weng leads the team in both touchdown receptions (8) and receiving yards (775). The Eagle defense has been paced by Brooks who recorded a team high 53 tackles this season. Nate Frankfather is next for the Eagles with 44, he also has two interceptions. Lakion Fowler and Shackleford both had 42 tackles this year with Fowler adding 3.5 sacks and Shackleford picking off two passes.
Sunday's game in Santa Clarita will kick off at 2 pm. Tickets are available at the link below.