The Moorpark College Raiders took on the Fullerton College Hornets in their first home football game on Saturday, and although the Raiders lost the game 16-13, don’t count them out against ranked teams.

The Raiders played a very lackadaisical first half but gave the Hornets a run for their money in the second.

The Raiders really made a statement after looking, like what most expected, to be pinned up against the wall. But to anyone who thought the game was over after the first 30 minutes was in for quite a shock in the second half.

Starting a drive in the third quarter from the Hornets’ 24-yard-line, Moorpark capitalized on a wide open Nathan Largan, who stood in the corner of the end zone waiting for the ball to come into his arms.

Unfortunately, after kicker Jorge Vazquez connected on the PAT that would be the last time the Raiders put anything up on the scoreboard.

One thing that was established in this game was that Moorpark College has plenty of heart on the field and on the bench. Sophomore #2 Roy Holmes was on the bench working to pump his team to keep the Raiders in contention for the night.

“We just wanted to keep the tempo up,” said Holmes. “We always want to keep it positive and keep our energy moving forward.”

MC Athletic Director, Howard Davis, was very pleased with the way the Raiders looked and was confident going into the second half of play.

“We are off to a great start,” said Davis. “For us to be playing this tough against a team that is so good is great. We just want to give ourselves a chance to win.”

The one controversial decision set by the Raiders was when they were set up fourth and goal with five seconds left to go on the game clock. Fans anticipated the Raiders to come out with their special and kick for a field goal to tie the game and send the game to overtime.

Head coach Jim Bittner, however, did not feel comfortable with turning to his special teams that late in the game.

“Our special team wasn’t as effective as I would have liked it to be,” said Bittner. “We weren’t getting good snaps off so I just didn’t feel comfortable with turning to them.”

Bittner does feel confident that after a week of practice, it is something that will be improved upon by next week’s game against Santa Ana.

Although they fall to 2-1 on the season, the Raiders still have poise.

“We have confidence, but know there is still a lot of work to be done as we face many ranked teams this season,” said Bittner.

The Raiders (2-1) are preparing to host the Santa Ana College Dons (3-0) next weekend in the Raiders’ own Griffin Stadium on Sat. Kick-off is set to be at 6:00 p.m.