McClellan Controls Second Half, Cougars Get Past Glendale

GLENDALE, Calif. – The College of the Canyons football team broke a 14-14 halftime tie with the Glendale College Vaqueros on Saturday night as quarterback Brad McClellan threw for three touchdowns and carried in another to lift COC past Glendale, 42-23.

McClellan, who was relatively quiet on the scoring front in the first half, exploded for his own rushing touchdown and then connected once with sophomore wide receiver Hayo Carpenter and twice with sophomore wide receiver Jovan Leacock to score 29 points in the second half.

The Cougars opened up the game with 14 points in the first quarter on their first two possessions – the first, a one-yard Fred Winborn carry and the second from a 10-yard Brandon McDonald touchdown run.

Entering the second quarter, COC had a 14-0 lead, but was held scoreless as Glendale held COC to one first down and recovered the ball once on a fumble. While the Cougars struggled, the Vaqueros put up 14 points of their own to tie the game at 14-all at the halfway point.

COC regrouped in the second half and opened the third quarter with a seven-play, 59-yard march that ended with an 8-yard McClellan rushing touchdown. The kick from Ricky Drake, who was 5-of-5 on the night, was good, and COC took a 21-14 lead.

Cougar defensive lineman Jermaine Cushnie got the ball back on the ensuing Glendale possession when the Vaquero's quarterback fumbled the ball.

COC took advantage of the Glendale miscue and scored seven more points, but this time in the air between McClellan and Carpenter for a 34-yard touchdown pass with 7:18 left in the third.

Glendale scored a touchdown with 3:28 left in the third quarter to come within seven points, 28-21, to set up the final quarter.

The Cougars quickly increased their lead with a helpful play from the defense. Linebacker Steve Gourley blocked Glendale's punt to start the fourth quarter. Defensive back Roderick Oliver recovered it and ran 34 yards to the Glendale 20-yard line.

With a short field, it only took one snap for McClellan to find Leacock in the end zone for a 20-yard touchdown pass with 12:15 left in the game.

McClellan connected one more time with Leacock on a 15-yard pass with 9:21 left in the game for the Cougars' final points of the game.

A COC bad snap that went over Drake's head accounted for the Glendale safety, while the Canyons' defense never let the Vaqueros get any deeper than the Canyons' 36-yard line in the fourth quarter.

McClellan passed for 296 yards on 17-of-21 passing and three touchdowns. This is the quarterback's second consecutive week racking up 290+ yards passing – against Moorpark on Oct. 11, he had 298 yards. He also ran for 40 yards on 15 carries and one touchdown against Glendale.

Winborn had 14 carries for 101 yards and one touchdown. Winborn's one touchdown broke the school record for rushing touchdowns in a career with 30 TDs during the past two seasons. The record was previously held by now Arizona Cardinal JJ Arrington at 29.

Leacock had a career-high 169 yards on seven catches. Carpenter had 10 catches and 175 yards and one touchdown. Carpenter's 175 yards pushed him over the school record for career receiving yards in a career. The previous record was held by Tyrell Smith with 2,318 yards during the 2002 and 2004 seasons. Carpenter has accumulated 2,417 yards in the past two seasons.

Marquis Jackson led the defensive efforts with nine tackles, five solo, and 1.5 sacks. Nick Tepea also recorded nine tackles, five solo, and Josh Gibbs tallied seven tackles, four solo, an interception and two pass breakups.

College of the Canyons remains perfect at 7-0, 3-0 in conference, and Glendale drops to 3-3, 1-1 in conference.

The Cougars will host Ventura College on Saturday, Oct. 25. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.