Big third quarter leads MSJC football team to victory

The Mt. San Jacinto College football team broke open a close game in the third quarter on Saturday night as they went on the road to defeat Antelope Valley College 29-13 in Lancaster.

The Eagles got the scoring started early as they marched 75 yards in 7 plays on the game's opening drive to score on an 11-yard touchdown pass from Robert Coleman to Taylor Tosches with 11:04 to play in the first quarter. A failed two-point attempt left the score at 6-0.

Antelope took their only lead of the day with 8:07 to play in the first period when they scored on a 1-yard run by Amir Bankhead and made the extra point try. The only other scoring in the first half came late in the first quarter when Nathaniel Peterson connected on an 18-yard field goal to give the Eagles a 9-7 lead. A scoreless second quarter kept the game at 9-7 at halftime.

The Eagles then pushed across two TDs in the third period to create some breathing room. Jaylen Magee ripped off a 57-yard run to push the lead to 16-7, and then later in the period Coleman hooked up with Emilio Valencia on a 6-yard scoring pass to make the score 23-7 heading to the fourth. The Eagles scored one more time with 10:42 to play in the game when Taliq Brown was on the receiving end of a 22-yard scoring strike from Coleman, making the score 29-7. AVC scored a late TD to make the final 29-13.

Coleman finished the day completing 29 of 42 passes for 327 yards and 3 scores. Magee rushed for 105 total yards on 16 carries. Brown made 9 catches for 99 yards and Tosches had 7 receptions for 79 yards. On defense, Naisir Morrow had a team-best 7 tackles while Carsten Mamaril had an interception for the Eagles, who only allowed 187 total yards on the evening.

The win evens the Eagles’ record at 1-1 on the season. They will play their home opener this Saturday at Carl Qunadt Stadium in San Jacinto. Saturday's game against Moorpark is set to kick off at 1 p.m.