Moorpark won the coin toss and elected to receive, they began their first drive on the 25 yard line. On the first play from scrimmage, running back Nate Gillard broke off an 18 yard run.
Gillard didn’t stop there, as he broke off two consecutive runs up the middle, and marched the Raiders down to the 29 yard line.
Moorpark failed to get anything going offensively after thee incomplete passes were thrown. Punter Kevin Mclemore pretended to punt with his unorthodox kick, only to hand the ball off and get a fourth down conversion. The drive ended with a touchdown when Nick Davis found receiver Justin Coburn in the corner of the end zone. Moorpark went up with the first points on the board, 7-0.
The Allan Hancock Bulldogs responded by airing the ball out to the one yard line. Moorpark had other plans though; when Cesar Fermin intercepted a pass from quarterback Trevor Mays in the end zone to end the first.
The Raiders again failed to get anything going offensively to start the second quarter as they went three and out.The Bulldog punt returner to dropped the ball on the three yard line after getting a hand on it, but the Raiders managed to recover the ball and gain possession.
With 13:32 left in the half running-back Nate Gillard broke a tackle and ran into the end zone for 9 yards, increasing Moorpark’s lead to 14.
Thanks to a sack on a 3rd down by tackle Shane Henley, the Raiders got the ball back with 11:00 left in the second quarter.
Raider quarterback Nick Davis found receiver Raymond Bolden for three straight plays for a total of 32 yards, ending in a 4 yard dump off into the end zone for another Raider score. Moorpark extended the unanswered lead to 21 points.
With five minutes left in the half, the Bulldogs responded with their first score of the day, a 4 yard pass from Mays to receiver Jeffries.
After a 3 and out, the Bulldogs attempted to score another touchdown, but were held to a field goal on the 1 yard line to end the half.
At the half, it was MC with 21 points and Hancock with 10.
The third went scoreless until Bulldog quarterback, Trevor Mays threw a 32 yard throw down the field, and Allan Hancock reduced the deficit to 5.
MC Head coach Will Thurston believed this was the turning point of the game.
“There was a lot of frustration after that score,” said Thurston. “That’s when the momentum changed.”
Two possessions later Allan Hancock broke off with two big runs for 49 yard total, and attempted to steal the lead. The Bulldogs failed after corner Jonathan Weeks broke up a touchdown pass in the end zone. Allan Hancock settled for a field goal and shortened the MC lead to 2.
With five minutes left in the 4th, the Raiders committed another error, after dropping the kick return, giving the Bulldogs the ball back on the 15. Trevor Mays threw a laser down the middle on the next play, taking the lead 25-21.
Nick Davis broke off a 20 yard run, putting MC in scoring position with 1:43 left. Moorpark failed to capitalize when running back Gillard lost the ball in the red zone, and defensive back Kenjon Barnes took the ball to the house, ending the game, 33-21.
When asked about the loss, linebacker and captain, Travis Key offered insight on the reason his team lost the lead late.
“We thought we had it in the bag, we got complacent at the worst possible time,” said Key. “We slacked off, and before we knew it, the lead was gone.”
Coach Thurston left some parting thoughts on how his team will bounce back following the upset.
“When you have a game that ends like that, it doesn’t always bring the best out of our players.” Thurston continued, “With that said, we will bounce back and make sure that doesn’t happen again.
The now .500 Moorpark Raiders (2-2), head on the road to face to face rival Ventura College (3-1) in a division showdown at Ventura College Stadium on Oct. 5 at 6 p.m.
