The Valley Chronicle - Eagles marauded by Maraudersng

Antelope Valley defeated the MSJC Football team in SJ on Saturday, 31-7

[caption id="attachment_6494" align="alignright" width="576"] Photo by Corey Evan/The Valley Chronicle
Action shot taken during Saturday’s game against Antelope Valley. The Marauders defeated the Eagles 31-7.[/caption] ■ Corey Evan / Sports Reporter Fall may be upon us, but the sun was beating down on Mt. San Jacinto College’s Carl Quandt Stadium on Saturday afternoon. Quandt, a rancher who donated the land where MSJC’s San Jacinto Campus stands, has been the stadium’s namesake for years but his name was formally added to the entrance of the stadium during this summer’s renovations. There, the Eagles hosted the Antelope Valley Marauders on their brand new turf. Here’s what went down: First quarter proved difficult for the Eagles; the Marauders took the first touchdown of the game. The home team just couldn’t get on the board this quarter. Jamari Becnel helped turn the winds in MSJC’s favor with their first TD five minutes into the second quarter, with Coby Perine equalizing the score with the extra point. After taking time to cool down and collect their thoughts and strategy, the Marauders woke up their fans as DJ Payne took in Antelope Valley’s second TD of the afternoon seven minutes into the third quarter. To pour salt in that wound, the Marauders kicked a successful field goal. It would not get any easier for MSJC in the final quarter: Tyrik Wilson brought in a third Marauder TD, with a successful extra point to follow. Three minutes later, Payne got a fourth with a successful extra point then, too. Unfortunately for the Eagles, time just wasn’t on their side and the game ended 31-7 in favor of Antelope Valley. Coach Casey Mazzotta has observed weakness in his Eagles, which he believes contributed to the loss: “You’ve gotta play all three phases of the game; you can’t have one lacking…special teams for us was poor today. We started on short fields quite a few times, and gave them short football fields. Field position is usually the game…A lot of that is created off of special teams’ play, so I think that hurt us quite a bit today.” Mazzotta also acknowledges the Marauders as being a good team. But despite an overall loss, there were a few shining stars on the Eagles’ side of the field: Mazzotta acknowledges his defensive players played well today, including Henry Banks, Lanai Jackson and Tyler Freeman. After having a look at the footage from this game and working to shake up what needs to be, the Eagles will take flight this Saturday to Los Angeles Valley College to try their talons at dethroning the Monarchs at 6 p.m. Their next home game is on Oct. 14 at 1 p.m. against College of the Desert. Grab a lucky feather and wish for both games to be Eagle winners! It’s worth noting in your day planner that the MSJC 2017 athletic hall of fame class will be inducted at a special banquet on Oct. 21 at 6 p.m., following that day’s homecoming game. For tickets to the banquet, go to msjc.edu/athletics.