Moorpark looked to keep their winning streak alive on Saturday against Bakersfield, but fell short, losing 31-15.
The Raiders were unable to get off to a good start, forcing them to play from behind all night. Head Coach Mike Stuart scratched his head all night not being able to capitalize on anything.
“We had a good eight minute drive to open things up, but came away with nothing,” said Stuart. “They ran and ran all night, and we just couldn’t tackle.”
Bakersfield, as a team, ran the ball for 327 yards and had four touchdowns against Moorpark.
No team scored in the first quarter, but Bakersfield struck first in the second with a one yard touchdown run by their running back Isaiah Sharp. The touchdown capped off an 11 play 77 yard drive for Bakersfield that put them up 7-0.
With 6:01 left in the second quarter, Renegades kicker Julio Galvan booted in a 30 yard field goal putting his team up 10-0.
Just before the half, running back Curtis McGregor ran the ball in from a yard out, capping off a quick three play drive that only took a minute off the clock. The Renegades went up 17-0 at the half.
Things did not seem to improve for the Raiders in the second half.
Bakersfield scored with under five minutes left in the third when their running back Dalton Gallis ran in from 16 yards out putting his team up 24-0.
Just before the end of the third quarter, McGregor ran it in again from two yards out giving Bakersfield the lead at the end of the third 31-0.
Moorpark finally got on the board in the fourth quarter as receiver Aaron Lacombe caught a 14 yard touchdown pass from back-up quarterback Kado Brown. The Raiders were still down 31-7 with 13:10 left in the game.
The final score came when receiver Emmanuel Osuchukwu caught a 14 yard pass from Brown. The Raiders made a successful two point conversion cutting the lead down to 31-15 and gave the game its final score.
Coach Stuart felt that the team came in with a good game-plan, but had to abandon it because of the loud environment his team played in and because quarterback Christian Hammack could not get any plays going.
“Bakersfield did a good job of getting pressure on our quarterback,” said Stuart. “They didn’t give Christian time to get his feet set and look around to find anyone.”
Stuart said the Raiders will work on the fundamentals during practice this week in preparation for their upcoming game this Saturday.
“We will have to focus on tackling during our individual drill this week,” said Stuart. “We’re also going to watch a lot of film on Pasadena this week to expose their weaknesses.”
Moorpark’s next game will be on the road against Pasadena City College this Saturday, Oct. 24.The Raiders next home game will be on Oct. 31 at 1 p.m. against Citrus College.
