(Huntington Beach, CA) With the National Central Conference title on the line, host Golden West College and Mt. San Antonio College squared off on Saturday, Nov. 11. Behind a balanced offensive attack, the Mounties came away with a 33-21 win to cap an undefeated season at 10-0 overall and 7-0 in NCC play. The loss dropped the Rustlers to 8-2 overall and 6-1 in conference.
A pair of field goals by Diego Esqueda (34 and 27 yards) and a 43-yard pass play from Alex Flores to De'shon Thompson put Mt. SAC up 13-0 in the second quarter, but GWC closed the gap to 13-7 by halftime.
Leading 20-14 in the third, Flores found Thompson again, this time on a 27-yard pass play that put the Mounties up 26-14 with 2:46 to play in the quarter.
The Rustlers pulled to within five, 26-21, on a one-yard touchdown pass with 10:37 to play. Mt. SAC responded with a 15-play, 85-yard drive that ate up 8:45 of the clock and ended on a two-yard touchdown run by Felix Igiri to put the Mounties up for good, 33-21, at the 1:46 mark.
Flores finished with 171 yards passing and three touchdowns on 16-of-22 passing with no interceptions for Mt. SAC.
Thompson made six catches on the day for 98 yards with a pair of touchdowns for the Mounties, while teammate Jordan Williams hauled in six passes for 40 yards and one touchdown, a five-yard play from Flores in the third.
On the ground, Nicholas Floyd led Mt. SAC with 121 yards on 20 carries and teammate Samuel Green added 80 yards on 13 carries.
Reggie Johnson led the Mountie defense with eight tackles—six of which were solo efforts—and two sacks. Kaylon Bradley (seven tackles, one solo), Juan Salas (five tackles, four solo), Shamar Hawkins (five tackles, three solo) and Katin Surprenant (five tackles, three solo) also contributed to Mt. SAC's defensive prowess. In addition, Robert Turner (four tackles, three solo) had a sack.
With two of the four undefeated teams falling this weekend, Mt. SAC now awaits the state ranking and the pairing announcements for the 3C2A playoffs.
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For additional information, please contact the Mt. SAC Sports Information Office at 909.274.4630.