Gauchos rev up engine against PCC

The Saddleback football team picked up its first win of the season with a 50-21 win against Pasadena City College on Saturday night at Mission Viejo High School.  The Gauchos will look to make it two in a row at Moorpark College next weekend.

Saddleback entered the game on Saturday night looking to get out of an offensive funk after scoring just 25 total points in the first two games of the season.  The Gauchos busted out, tripling their season point total with a 29-point win over visiting Pasadena City.

Saddleback carried a 16-14 lead into the locker room after Jake Cuero caught a 10-yard touchdown pass from Robbie Patterson with 14 seconds remaining in the second quarter.  The Gauchos never relinquished the lead, outscoring the Lancers 34-7 over the final 30 minutes of play.

Saddleback grabbed a 23-14 lead early in the third quarter when Rome Innocenzi returned a PCC punt 52 yards for a touchdown to give Saddleback its biggest lead of the season through 2.5 games.  PCC responded with a five play, 75-yard drive that ended with a two-yard pass from Mario Bobadilla to Forest Fajardo to cut the lead back to 23-21.

That was close as Pasadena City would get as Saddleback revved up the engine for the first time this season.  The Gauchos scored on five of the next six drives, including a 50-yard touchdown run by Jonathan Jefferson to close out the scoring.

Saddleback finished with a 354-154 advantage in total yardage.  The Gauchos held Pasadena City to (-1) yards rushing for the game, racking up five sacks against the Lancer offensive front.

Patterson finished 18-of-31 for 189 yards and one touchdown pass, picking apart the Pasadena City secondary in the second half.  The Gauchos also scored their first touchdowns of the season on the ground, with Jefferson, Jerome Johnson, Al Gene Fisher and Brandon Reaves all finding paydirt.

Turner Tonkovich had a sensational night on defense for Saddleback.  The freshman from San Clemente racked up 13 total tackles while his supporting cast had 10 tackles behind the line-of-scrimmage.

Saddleback (1-2) will play again next Saturday when they travel to Moorpark College (1-2) to take on the Raiders.  Kickoff is scheduled for 6:00 PM at Moorpark College.