Glendale Community College football fades in second half in loss to Antelope Valley

LANCASTER — The Glendale Community College and Antelope Valley College football teams were both looking to reverse some recent struggles when they met Saturday evening.

The Vaqueros were hoping to snap a four-game losing streak and determined to notch their first Pacific Conference American Division victory. Likewise, the Marauders were also winless in the division and had lost three of their last four contests.

Things looked good for Glendale in the first half, as it went into the break with the lead. However, the Vaqueros could manage very little in the way of offense in the second half, surrendering 17 straight points at one point before converting late with a score in a 24-19 loss at Antelope Valley.

The loss was the fifth straight for the Vaqueros (1-5, 0-3 in the division). The team’s only win of the campaign came in its opener Sept. 5 against East Los Angeles College, 35-31.

“This has been the same equation for us in our games this season,” Glendale Coach John Rome said. “We start out well, or we start off poorly and we rally back, and we just can’t quite finish. We just seem to get the wrong mistakes at the wrong time and it’s really the little things that have killed us.

“We have really beat ourselves this season and we let a lot of teams get the best of us. We have been our worst enemy the whole year.”

The late Vaqueros’ score came with just 27.5 seconds remaining in the game when quarterback David Arriaga connected with Deondre Dunn on a four-yard touchdown pass.

Down by five, Glendale tried an onside kick but the attempt was recovered by Antelope Valley, which ran out the clock.

Glendale looked to take a lead in the second half, down, 17-13, with 13 minutes left. The Vaqueros mounted a drive at their own 25 that progressed to the Marauders’ 16, but a personal foul penalty moved the ball back to the 31 and the team lost even more yardage and was forced to punt when the drive stalled at the 35.

The Marauders (3-3, 1-2) then mounted a 99-yard drive, fueled by Vaqueros’ penalties, that culminated in a 23-yard touchdown pass from Blake Shepherd to Derek Denton at the 6:47 mark that gave Antelope Valley a 24-13 cushion.

In was a sloppy first half that saw the teams combine for four turnovers. The Vaqueros had two fumble recoveries and one interception. However, it was the Marauders who capitalized first on a fumble recovery. Taking over at the Glendale 42, it took Antelope Valley seven plays to score. The Marauders took a 7-0 lead following a 14-yard scoring run by Trevonte Coleman with 3.6 seconds remaining in the first quarter.

The Vaqueros finally converted on their third takeaway of the first half, set up by a fumble recovery at their own 47. Glendale tied score at 7 after Bellarmine-Jefferson High product Josh Martinez found the end zone on a 22-yard run around the left side with 8:59 left in the second quarter.

“It’s the little things that cost us today,” said Martinez, who had seven carries for 60 yards. “The penalties are what really hurt us … but hopefully those are some of the things that we can fix. We are kind of young and we got each other and I know we’ll fix it.”

Glendale headed into halftime with a lead after a touchdown with time running out. Travis Custis (17 carries for 63 yards) bulled his way for a touchdown on a one-yard run up the middle with 22.3 seconds left to stake the Vaqueros to a 13-7 advantage. The Vaqueros mishandled the snap on the point-after attempt.

Glendale was out-gained on offense in the first half, 179-141. The Vaqueros also only managed nine passing yards in the first two quarters, compared to 103 by the Marauders.

But things went south for the Vaqueros in the second half, which allowed Antelope Valley to steal the momentum. The Marauders scored 17 straight points on two touchdowns and a field goal to take a 24-13 advantage with 6:47 remaining in the contest.

“I know the guys are disappointed with our record so far and I’m disappointed, as well,” Rome said. “But I’ve seen teams turn things around and I’m hoping that we’ll be able to do that.”