Football

Mountie Football Victorious in Golden State Bowl, 27-3, over College of the Canyons

Final	1	2	3	4	T
Canyons (5-6)	3	0	0	0	3
Mt. SAC (8-3)	0	17	3	7	27

Photo Courtesy of Ken McLin

Posted: Nov 19, 2016

By John M. Sherrard

(Walnut, CA) For the 11th consecutive time, the Mt. San Antonio College Football Team and Head Coach Bob Jastrab have come out victorious in a bowl game. The latest triumph, a 27-3 victory over visiting College of the Canyons in the Golden State Bowl, Saturday night, at Covina District Field.

The victory is the second Golden State Bowl victory for Mounties, the last coming in 2013.

Canyons first and only score was a 31-yard field goal in the first quarter, which was Due to a fumbled punt return by the Mounties.

From there, it was all Mt. SAC, as the Mounties Offense took over, scoring 27 consecutive points and the Defense shutting out the Cougars.

Midway through the first quarter, the Mounties offense began a long drive (6:51 time of possession) which ended 40 seconds into the second quarter with a Sateki Finau 3-yard rushing touchdown (score 7-3) and the first of 17 second-quarter points.

On the next Mt. SAC possession, kicker Brandon Gracia connected with a 34-yard field goal, the first of two, to stretch the lead to 10-3.

The Mounties increased the lead to 17-3 at the end of the first half on a 27-yard TD toss from sophomore quarterback Anfernee Bruton (10 of 18, 91 yds, 13 rushes for 74 yds) to freshman wide receiver Tavonn Salter (5 catches, 51 yards) with :31 left.

Midway through the third quarter, Gracia kicked his second field goal of the game to give the Mounties a 20-3 lead.

With 6:43 left in the game, Finau gave the Mounties a 26-3 lead, with his tenth rushing TD on the season, an 11-yard touchdown run. Gracia's 45th PAT of the season was good to seal the score at 27-3.

BOWL GAME AND SEASON NOTES:

Mt. SAC running back Sateki Finau was named Golden State Bowl, Most Valuable Player of the game. The sophomore ran for a game-high 102 yards on 21 carries and two touchdowns. Finau finished with 640 yards rushing and ten TD's this season.
Players of the Game were Canyons sophomore running back Tylan McBride and Mt. SAC sophomore defensive tackle Jacob Tuivaiave. Tuivaiave had two solo tackles, three assists and three tackles for a loss.
Defensively, the Mounties held their opponent without a TD for the fourth game this season.The Mounties totaled 46 sacks (most in the state) this season with sophomore linebacker Kyle Woolard-Hilton tied for first with 13.5.
Mt. SAC sophomore running back Edgar Segura ran for 67 yards on nine carries, while sophomore wide receiver Elijah Trejo caught five passes for 40 yards.
Kicker Brandon Gracia finished the season with 11 FGs (longest 51 yards), punting average of 40.3 yards and was 45 out of 46 on PAT's.
Mt. SAC defensive back's Michael Johnson and Charles Clayton each had an interception, while linebacker Neal Nelson had 1.5 sacks for a minus 11 yards. The Mounties, have won 4 CCCAA State Championships and 3 National Community College Championship. Mt. SAC was one of 24 teams that participated in CCCAA post season bowl games this year.