COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOOTBALL ROUNDUP : Golden West’s Rally Falls Short in 28-21 Loss to Palomar

Golden West rallied for two touchdowns in the fourth quarter, but a missed opportunity in between was costly as the Rustlers suffered a 28-21 loss to Palomar in an Mission Conference football game in front of about 1,500 Saturday at Orange Coast.

Golden West had problems moving the ball until the fourth quarter when it got a jumpstart from the defense when Jeff Dunagan intercepted a pass at the Palomar 46.

Three plays later, quarterback John Shipp completed a 40-yard touchdown pass to Jacob Kulikoff that cut Palomar’s lead to 28-14 with 8:40 left.

Golden West (4-1, 3-1) then got a break when Palomar quarterback Andy Loveland fumbled an exchange and it was recovered by the Rustlers’ Frank Marvitz at the Comet 26 with 8:20 left to play.

Despite the prime position, Golden West failed to score.

An incomplete pass, two plays that lost a combined three yards, and a third-down pass short of the needed one yard gave the ball to Palomar (5-1, 3-1) at its own 17.

Golden West forced Palomar to punt, and the Rustlers were able to rally for a final touchdown with 59 seconds left. Shipp completed a two-yard pass to Kulikoff to cut the lead to 28-21. The pair combined for three touchdown passes in the game. Shipp, playing for starter Willy Puga, who was out with sore ribs, was 20 of 32 for 198 yards and two interceptions.

After the touchdown, the Rustlers tried an onsides kick, but Palomar recovered and ran out the clock.

Golden West scored late in the first half after Michael Mazzone recoved a fumbled punt at the Palomar 25. Three plays later, Shipp completed a 17-yard scoring pass to Kulikoff with 33 seconds left in the half.

Golden West, the second-best defense in the conference, held Palomar to 411 total yards, 100 below the Comets’ average.