Cougars Cruise To First-Round Win

SANTA CLARITA, Calif. – The No. 1 College of the Canyons scored 41 points in the first game of the 2008 playoffs to win , 41-17 over No. 8 Antelope Valley College to win the Western State Conference Bowl.

With the win, COC will host No. 4 El Camino in the SoCal Semifinals on Saturday, Nov. 29, at 7 p.m. 

With quarterback Brad McClellan coming back in his first start in two weeks, the offense looked a little out of sync, going four plays for four yards in its first drive. 

But the Marauder offense had troubles of its own and faired even worse, mustering just 25 yards of total offense in the first quarter. 

Late in the first, Cougar kicker Ricky Drake punted from the Marauder 43, and Antelope Valley's Eddie Russ collected the ball on a fair catch at the seven-yard line. Three plays and two yards later, the Marauders punted it out of their end zone, and BJ Iverson returned the kick to the Antelope Valley 39.

From there, Fred Winborn and McClellan got the ball down to the 19-yard line, where McCellan found Nate Jones for a score early in the second quarter. A missed extra point kept the score at 6-0.

Antelope Valley would get their first points on the board with a 25-yard field goal, but the Cougars responded on the next series, marching 60 yards on eight plays to set up a 3-yard Fred Winborn touchdown run, giving the Cougars a 13-3 lead at half.

It was Winborn again in the second half, racing 39 yards for a score and a 20-3 lead that had the Cougars sensing the beginning of the end. But Antelope Valley responded, when Eddie Russ, playing wide receiver for the first time all season, grabbed a pass and dashed 91 yards for a score. A missed two-point conversion put the score at 20-9.

College of the Canyons came back with a big play of their own, as BJ Iverson raced 61 yards on the following kickoff to Antelope Valley's 27-yard line. Two plays later, McClellan hit Taveon Burke for a 24-yard touchdown, and a 27-9 Cougar lead.

Antelope Valley burned the Cougars deep again, this time in the fourth quarter when Marauder quarterback John Perez hit Charles Johnson for a 54-yard touchdown. Following a good two-point conversion, the score stood at 27-17.

But the Cougars special teams responded again, and this time in a big way. Nate Jones grabbed the ensuing onside kickoff attempt by the Marauders at the Antelope Valley 40, then raced back 40 yards for a touchdown and 35-17 lead with under two minutes left to play.

Cougar linebacker Eric Wells dropped Marauder running back Dominique Blood for a five-yard loss on a fourth and one with less than one minute left in the game, and BJ Iverson took in the final score on a 23-yard run.

Running back Fred Winborn had a big night with 123 yards and two scores, while quarterback Brad McClellan finished the night 13-of-27 for 109 yards and two scores, and ran the ball 11 times for 86 yards. Defensive lineman Marquis Jackson was everywhere, racking up 11 tackles, three tackles for loss and an interception.