SAN BERNARDINO >> The San Bernardino Valley College football team got off to a quick start winning its first two games. Then starting quarterback Ricardo Johnson got hurt and fortunes started changing. But the Wolverines played one of their more complete games, defeating visiting College of the Desert 45-23 on Saturday in American Mountain Conference play. The win snapped a two-game losing streak.
“We played pretty well in all facets of the game,” Wolverines coach John Shipp said. “The past few weeks we have had letdowns in at least one area or more. Today when we had a let up we came up with some clutch plays and were able to get the momentum back in our favor.”
The Wolverines tallied 452 yards while the Roadrunners managed 375. Except for the latter part of the third quarter the game really wasn’t that close.
The Wolverines (3-2, 1-1) never trailed. They surged out to a 14-0 lead, with a big defensive play setting up the game’s first score. Desert took the opening kickoff but Eisenhower graduate Kevin Stephenson picked off a pass and raced 96 yards with it before being forced out of bounds at the Roadrunners 2. Kendrick Dorn plunged over on the next play and Cody Madsen added his first of six PAT kicks on the night.
The SBVC defense held Desert without a first down on its next possession. SBVC responded with a nice ball-controlled drive, marching 93 yards on 14 plays, chewing nearly six minutes off the clock.
The drive ended with a 22-yard scoring pass from Daniel Epperson to Isiah Gibbs, the first of two the pair combined on in the game.
Desert (2-2, 1-1) answered back with the next two scores, one of those coming from the defense. Zeriam Jackson returned an Epperson offering 62 yards two minutes into the second quarter, although the kick failed.
A 20-yard field goal by Jesus Miranda sliced the Roadrunners deficit to 14-9.
SBVC added three points on its next possession. Demetre Davis returned the ensuing kickoff 63 yards . SBVC failed to get a first down but Madsen booted a 40-yard field goal to make it 17-9.
An interception by Colbert Calhoun, the third of the half for SBVC, paved the way for the next score, with Epperson finding Gibbs again, this time from 22 yards out.
SBVC rounded out the half with an 80-yard scoring jaunt by Alijah Watson with 38 seconds left in the half and led 31-9.
It got a little interesting as Desert tacked on 14 points in the third quarter to draw within 31-23 Eric Rivers caught a 14-yard touchdown pass with 3:03 left in the third.
But the Roadrunners could get no closer.
“We seem to have a letdown in the second half,” Shipp said. “I tell them lets do the same thing we have been doing but for some reason we haven’t.”
Watson rushed for 108 yards, the majority of that on the one scoring play. Dorn added 103.
Epperson threw for 250 yards with Gibbs catching nine passes for 138 yards.
SBVC picked off four passes, with Angel Delgado running one back 34 yards for a score in the fourth quarter that put the game away.
The Wolverines have a bye next week, then continue conference play with a 1 p.m. game at Victor Valley.
CHAPMAN 33, CLAREMONT-MUDD-SCRIPPS 23 >> Stags quarterback Trey Reynolds went 16 of 34 for 290 yards passing and two touchdowns in the SCIAC-opening loss. Ryan Farney had four catches and 121 yards and was on the receiving end of both of Reynolds’ touchdown passes for Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (1-2, 0-1).
