Bakersfield Slips by Moorpark

Bakersfield College Coach Carl Bowser realizes that a team needs a certain amount of luck to go undefeated for 16 consecutive games.

And the Renegades (14-0-2 during the streak) had just enough of that commodity Saturday to beat previously undefeated Moorpark, 28-27, in a Western State Conference game at Moorpark.

Jake Hogue’s interception of a deflected Jayson Merrill pass with 40 seconds left sealed the win for the defending national champions, but it was an offside penalty against Moorpark with 5:05 left that helped the Renegades improve to 3-0-2 overall, 2-0-2 in conference play.

With Bakersfield trailing, 27-20, with 7:14 left, quarterback Lance Geary engineered an 80-yard, eight-play drive to cut the deficit to one. But Jimmy Lopez’s extra-point attempt was wide left and Bakersfield appeared in jeopardy of suffering its first defeat since the 1987 Potato Bowl.

The Raiders (4-1, 3-1) were offside, however, and after a timeout, Geary rolled out and hit Bryce Burnett in the left corner of the end zone for the two-point conversion and the final margin of victory.

“We got lucky on that call,” Bowser said. “Our kicking game has been terrible all season, but we’ve been good at two-point conversions. So after we missed the extra point, I figured we might as well go for it.”

Bakersfield’s touchdown had come on fourth-and-12 from Moorpark’s 36-yard line. Geary--who completed four of seven passes for 94 yards during the final drive and eight of 13 for 158 in the game--hooked up with tight end Neal Nelson.

Defensive back Kenny Doll tried for the interception, and when he missed, Nelson rumbled the final 20 yards down the left sideline.

“We tell our kids to play the ball--not the man--and that’s what he did,” Moorpark Coach Jim Bittner. said. “But we don’t tell them to play the ball and miss it.”

Bittner was not blaming Doll for the loss, though. The Raiders had other chances.

Leading, 24-20, in the third quarter, Moorpark lined up for an apparent 38-yard field-goal attempt, but holder Tony Kerr’s pass to Freddie Bradley was picked off by Ty Bowden at the goal line.

Moorpark drove 64 yards in nine plays in its next series--capped by Sean Cheevers’ 27-yard field goal--to take a 27-20 lead, but the margin could have been 10 points had the Raiders kicked the field goal on their previous possession.

“It’s easy to look back and second-guess the fake field goal,” Bittner said, “but I felt it was the right thing to do at the time. If we had made it, it really would have given our kids a big boost.”

Bakersfield’s victory overshadowed a fine performance by Merrill, who completed 19 of 38 passes for 324 yards and one touchdown.

After completing only four of 10 passes for 41 yards in the first quarter, Merrill was 15 of 28 for 283 yards in the final three. His 35-yard touchdown pass to Peter Marine--and Cheevers’ subsequent conversion--gave Moorpark a brief 14-13 lead with 8:46 left in the second quarter.

Bakersfield took a 20-14 lead on its next possession when Nixon and Nathan Dupree combined for a 48-yard touchdown pass. Dupree, who also scored on a 59-yard run to give Bakersfield a 13-0 lead in the first quarter, broke a tackle by Doll on the play.

Cheevers’ 24-yard field goal with 1:02 left in the second quarter narrowed the deficit to 20-17 at halftime.

Moorpark, which outgained Bakersfield, 445 to 329, took a 24-20 lead with 6:32 left in the third quarter on Bradley’s one-yard plunge.

Bradley rushed for 93 yards.