Bakersfield Lit Up by Moorpark Air Show, 39-10

Moorpark College’s passing attack, which seemed grounded since the second game of the season, reasserted itself with the subtlety of a sonic boom in the second half of Saturday night’s Western State Conference game against visiting Bakersfield.

Trailing by four points early in the third quarter, Moorpark scored 33 consecutive points to blow out Bakersfield, 39-10.

The win snapped Moorpark’s three-game losing streak to Bakersfield and got the Raiders (4-1, 3-1 in conference play) back on the winning track after last week’s 30-14 loss to L.A. Southwest.

“It feels great to finally beat them,” Moorpark Coach Jim Bittner said. “I was beginning to think that we were never going to beat them again. . . . But our passing game was back in gear tonight. We stunk up the place with our passing last week, but today we were back on.”

The chief pilots in Moorpark’s air show were quarterback Corey Tucker (14 of 21 passes for 199 yards, three touchdowns), and wide receiver Curtis Marsh (seven receptions for 115 yards, two touchdowns).

Tucker had struggled through a two for 12, 24-yard, two-interception performance against Southwest, and Marsh only had one catch for five yards.

Marsh was held to two receptions for 19 yards in the first half, but Tucker hit him for scores of 32 and 35 yards in the second half as Bakersfield assigned only single coverage to the speedy receiver.

“We noticed it in the first half, but we didn’t take advantage of it,” said Marsh, whose second touchdown catch gave Moorpark a 23-10 lead with 14 minutes 40 seconds to play. “We decided at halftime that we were going to come out and throw the ball a little bit more.”

Trailing, 10-6, early in the third quarter, Moorpark drove 70 yards in seven plays--capped by Marsh’s first touchdown catch--to take a 13-10 lead. Then, after a 23-yard field goal by Brian Balleweg gave the Raiders a 16-10 advantage, Marsh beat Bakersfield defensive back Bobby Gridiron again for his second score and a 13-point Raider lead.

Bakersfield fumbled on each of its next two series, and Moorpark made the Renegades pay for the second one by driving 24 yards in four plays--capped by Tucker’s five-yard pass to John Aylsworth.

A safety and a 68-yard interception return for a touchdown by Moorpark defensive back Kenyon Lewis with 5:32 left finished the scoring.

“We knew at halftime that we just had to take our time and things would come,” Tucker said. “We knew it was just a matter of time.”

Moorpark’s defense played a superb game, holding Bakersfield to 143 yards.

The Raider defense was particularly impressive after Jon Baker had kicked a 36-yard field to give Bakersfield a 10-6 lead early in the second half, holding the Renegades to one first down and forcing three turnovers on their next five possessions.

Moorpark dominated play for the last 22 minutes of the first half, yet the Raiders trailed, 7-6, at intermission, thanks to a 66-yard punt return for a touchdown by Bakersfield’s Lamont Rider with 3:14 left in the first quarter.

Moorpark outgained Bakersfield, 181 to 87 yards, had 12 first downs to the Renegades’ five, and ran 36 offensive plays to Bakersfield’s 21, but still trailed by a point.

Moorpark drove inside the Bakersfield 10-yard line twice in the second quarter, but had to settle for field goals from Balleweg both times.