JUNIOR COLLEGE FOOTBALL ROUNDUP : Antelope Valley Fails to Overcome Early Mistakes in 31-20 Loss

Antelope Valley College’s excursion Saturday night onto the synthetic turf at East Los Angeles College was hardly what one would call a magic carpet ride.

Antelope Valley turned the ball over three times in the first quarter, fell behind, 21-0, and spent the remainder of the game playing catch-up in a 31-20 Foothill Conference loss.

East Los Angeles (3-3, 3-1 in conference play), the Foothill’s top offensive team, piled up 408 yards against the conference’s second-best defensive unit. But the Huskies turned the ball over six times, allowing Antelope Valley (3-3-1, 2-2-1) to stay close in the second half.

ELAC’s Adan Avina, the conference’s leading rusher, gained 201 yards in 36 carries and scored on runs of 10 and two yards. Avina also scored from 28 yards on a screen pass in the second period.

The Huskies’ defense, ranked sixth in the conference, held Antelope Valley to two yards rushing and 146 total yards.

Antelope Valley quarterback Cole Speer threw a nine-yard touchdown pass to Abe Ivory late in the second quarter, and the Marauders trailed, 24-6, at halftime.

Antelope Valley closed to within 24-12 when Ivory scored on a one-yard run after Birk Sopsher’s interception of a Larry Razo pass in the third period.

But Avina’s two-yard touchdown run on the ensuing possession gave the Marauders a 19-point lead.

Razo threw another interception, at the Huskies’ two, and Ivory scored his third touchdown on a two-yard run late in the third quarter.