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Dons Defeat Desert 31-28 in Orange County Bowl
SANTA ANA, CA – The Santa Ana College (SAC) football team defeated College of the Desert (COD) 31-28 in the Orange County Bowl held at LeBard Stadium at Orange Coast College. The meeting was the first ever between the two teams.
COD opened scoring with a seven-yard touchdown run by Thomas DeMarco to put the Roadrunners up 7-0. James Brillantes cut the lead to 7-3 with a 28-yard field goal late in the first quarter.
Chris Wisdom extended COD's lead to 10-3 with a 25-yard field goal followed by a 41-yard touchdown pass from DeMarco to Quincy Hurst to put the Roadrunners up 17-3.
Bryson Kelly scored the Dons first touchdown of the game on a one-yard rushing touchdown to cut the score to 17-10. The Dons tied the game at 17-17 two minutes later when Kevin Boden blocked a COD punt that was recovered and returned for a touchdown by Cory Besch.
The Roadrunners quickly drove down the field before halftime to kick a 24-yard field goal by Wisdom. The field goal gave COD a three-point lead going into the half at 20-17.
Ray Contreras gave SAC its first lead of the game when he ran the ball in from the one-yard line on a quarterback keeper giving SAC the 24-20 lead. Chris Washington scored from three-yards out late in the third quarter to extend the Dons lead to 31-20.
The Roadrunners were held scoreless for most of the second half before scoring on a six-yard touchdown pass from DeMarco to Hurst to cut the lead to 31-28 with nine seconds left.
The Roadrunners recovered the onside kick with six seconds remaining but Demarco's hail mary attempt was intercepted by Derek Hines on the 10-yard line to end the game.
DeMarco was named the Offensive Player of the Game as he finished with 248 yards on 24-for-41 passing with two touchdowns and two interceptions. He also had 26 yards rushing and one rushing touchdown.
Blake Poole was named the Defensive Player of the Game as he finished with 13 tackles, six solo, a forced fumble and two sacks.
The victory improves the Dons all-time record in bowl games to 7-5 and is their first bowl win since 1997 when the Dons defeated Antelope Valley College 31-20 in the McDonald's Community College Bowl. SAC improves to 3-1 all-time in the Orange County Bowl with the last win coming in 1994, a 36-28 victory over Los Angeles Valley College. |
