Rustlers honor Coach Tenno with a victory

Chris d'Entremont and Zimari Manning proved to be a lethal combination as Golden West outlasts Citrus 36-30 Saturday night at LeBard Stadium.

Today's game was an emotional one as the Rustlers honored Coach Milt Tenno, who passed away last week, with a moment of silence prior to the kickoff.

Golden West (2-1) struck first as d'Entremont threw an 11-yard strike to Manning for the first of 5 scoring passes between the two. Holder Dylan Clarke fumbled the extra-point snap and the Rustlers settled for 6 points. Citrus (1-2) quickly answered with a passing score of its own as Larry Cutbirth connected with Errol Romney for a 4-yard score, which was the first of 3 scoring passes between the two. After a 3-and-out, Rustlers' linebacker Price Miller intercepted Cutbirth's pass and was brought down at the Citrus 18. D'Entremont took full advantage of the great field position and lofted an 18-yard score to Manning on the first play.

To start the second quarter, Cutbirth and Romney answered back with a 10-yard score. On the ensuing kickoff, Manning could not be stopped as he returned the ball all the way to the 50-yard-line. This would set up a 32-yard score from d'Entremont to Manning. After a 3-and-out by both squads, the scariest moment of the game occurred. Citrus running back DJ Gordon, who was running for a first down, took a massive hit from Kevin Small to force a fumble, which was recovered by Nijee Smith at the Rustlers' 45-yard-line. D'Entremont led the charge down field and connected with Manning for a 4-yard score.

Golden West started the third quarter failing to convert on downs, but Marcus Bryan more than made up for it with an interception brought down to the Citrus 33-yard-line. Unfortunately, the Golden West offense could not take advantage and settled for an Adrian Avila 27-yard field goal. Citrus would then go on a 16-point run. The first score was the third connection between Cutbirth and Romney, this one for 10 yards, and a 4-yard rushing score by Robert Gonzalez to start the fourth quarter. The Owls attempted a 2-point conversion and were successful both times to tie the score 30-30.

The Rustlers needed to capitalize soon and d'Entremont proved to be the answer. With less than 7 minutes left in the game, d'Entremont connected with Manning from 21 yards. Avila missed the extra point wide left and that made the final drive for the Owls quite interesting. Citrus started its drive from its own 30 and drove all the way to the Golden West 10-yard-line thanks in part to the brilliance of Cutbirth's passing. On third down and 11 yards to go, Cutbirth completed a pass to Stephen Garcia and Freddie Mora laid a huge hit on him to pop the ball loose. Both teams scrambled for the ball and Golden West was able to come up with it and ultimately secure the victory.

Golden West will begin conference play next week against Grossmont with a 1 p.m. start at LeBard Stadium.