Defense comes up big in the heat

The Saddleback football team opened the season with a convincing 41-7 win at College of the Desert on Saturday night in Palm Desert.  The Gauchos and Roadrunners played in triple-digit temperatures to start the game.

Saddleback knew it was going to be hot as earlier in the week the start time was moved back an hour in order to avoid excessive temperatures.  The Gaucho defense didn't let it bother them, stifling the Roadrunner offense for more than three quarters before Desert finally broke through for its only score of the game with just 11:44 remaining.

Saddleback opened the scoring midway through the first quarter when quarterback Max Gilliam called his own number and scampered 11 yards for a 7-0 lead.  Two drives later the Gauchos hit paydirt again when Emari Demercado capped off a 10-play drive with a two-yard touchdown and a 13-0 lead. 

Saddleback came out of the locker room for the third quarter looking to make a statement.  Jake Cuero took the second half kickoff 80 yards for a touchdown to open up a 20-0 lead, essentially putting the game out of reach for Desert just 13 seconds into the second half.

With the lead building and Desert growing impatient, the Roadrunners attempted to go for a first down on their following drive on a fourth and two from their own 43-yard line.  The Gauchos stuffed them as Kimani Keith and Corey Selenski blasted Desert running back Benjamin Myles for no gain, giving the offense great field position.  Nine plays later the offense capitalized when Gilliam found Chris Spiering for a 15-yard touchdown and a 27-0 lead with 9:34 remaining in the third quarter.   Gilliam wasn't done, however, scoring on a 45-yard run later in the quarter as Saddleback widened the lead to 34-0.

Following the lone score for Desert in the early part of the fourth quarter, Saddleback had more fun on the special teams when Ryan Nieman blocked a punt and Nathan Bowman scooped it up and ran 26-yards for a 41-7 lead with 8:42 remaining in the game.  It was the final dagger for a Desert team that was just 5-of-22 on third and fourth down for the game.

Saddleback's defense allowed only 242 yards of total offense to Desert, with Christian Rabay and Selenski leading the team with eight tackles apiece.  Rabay also had an interception on the night while Sefo Mailangi and Chris Evagues both recorded sacks. 

On offense, Demercado led the ground game with 92 yards on 10 carries.  Colin Kentros and Lorenzo Thompson had 64 and 63 yards receiving, respectively, while combining for nine catches.

Saddleback will look to improve to 2-0 next Saturday when they travel to Long Beach City College to face the Vikings (1-0).  Game time is scheduled for 6:00 PM.  LBCC was a 52-17 winner at Pasadena City on Saturday night.