Cougars Win First Road Test

GLENDORA, Calif. - The College of the Canyons football team gained 509 yards in total offense Saturday, helping the Cougars to their first road victory of the season over Citrus College, 31-22.

The Cougar offense was held scoreless early, but quickly put up 21 points in the second quarter of the game. The offense featured an increased air attack and also had 117 yards on the ground.

Sophomore quarterback Chris Rini finished the day 15-of -25 for 295 yards and three touchdowns. Rini and Sophomore QB Chris Owens combined for 392 yards passing and four scores.

 Sophomore wide receiver Chris Rivas led the team in receiving with 152 yards and two touchdowns and freshmen wide receiver Matt Szymanski also had 100 yards and a score.

After giving up 16 points in the first half, the Cougars defense only allowed six points for the rest of the game, with the last points allowed coming with just 50 seconds left in the game.

The game didn't exactly start how the Cougars offense wanted it to, as they had to punt three times and turned the ball over twice on downs their first five possessions.

The Cougars finally scored their first touchdown of the game with five minutes left to go before the half, when Rini connected with Rivas for a 48-yard touchdown pass.

Canyons added two touchdowns to end the first half. The first one came on a Rini 3-yard pass to freshmen wide receiver Keiotey Stenhouse. Then with 58 seconds left, Rini threw a 21-yard TD pass to Szymanski. The second score was set up by Cougar safety McCann, who had a big interception to set up the drive.  

The key play of the game came in the third quarter, when backup quarterback Owens threw a 72-yard touchdown to Rivas, giving the Cougars a 28-16 lead.

The Cougar's offense was able to capitalize on turnovers, as the defense notched five turnovers in the game. 

Freshmen safety Howard Wilder led the team in tackles with eight and sophomore safety Milton Gilchrist tallied six tackles and one sack. Sophomore defensive end Nick Olivia also had 1.5 sacks.

Sophomore safeties Curtis McCann, Rashad Albert and freshman safety Jarret Tryon had one interception each, and sophomore long snapper Alex Guzzi recovered a fumble.

Sophomore running backs Jamie Wilson and Roberto Dominguez combined for 83-yards rushing. Rini also had 23 yards on the ground.

COC will be back at home Saturday, Sept. 23, as they take on East L.A. College. Kickoff is at 7 p.m.