Keegan Robilotta completed 15-of-28 passes for 179 yards on Saturday night at La Playa Stadium but SBCC couldn’t overcome three turnovers and two missed field goals in a 27-7 nonconference football loss to Antelope Valley.
Alonzo Winn rushed for 72 yards on 14 tries and Pierre Hale caught four passes for 95 yards to pace the offense. AVC quarterback Cameron Coon hit on 25-of-36 passes for 250 yards while running a no-huddle offense.
The Marauders (1-1) went 70 yards in 11 plays on the opening drive, capped by a 2-yard run by Frank Brown. SBCC’s Quinton Padilla returned the ensuing kickoff 41 yards and Robilotta hit Hale on a 48-yard completion to the 3-yard line. Karim Jones caught a 6-yard toss from Robilotta to tie the game at 7.
The Vaqueros (0-2) used a blocked punt by Chad Quirarte and a fumble recovery by Kameahoo Kahaipo to reach the AVC 5- and 21-yard lines in the second quarter but couldn‘t get it in the end zone. Adam Maisch missed a pair of field goals as a 22-yard try was blocked and he was wide right on a 38-yarder.
“It’s disappointing,” said coach Craig Moropoulos. “We had some opportunities to go ahead and didn’t come up with any points. That really hurts because it puts a lot of pressure on your defense.
“We gave them one late on a fumble return, otherwise it’s 17-7 and we’re still in it.”
AVC defensive back Jeff Terry returned a fumble 32 yards for a score that boosted the lead to 24-7 with 7:05 to go in the third quarter.
Sophomore linebacker Manny Hernandez made 13 tackles (4 solo) for the second straight game and Mitch Nelson had 11. The offense collected 16 first downs and 278 yards but was only 2-of-12 on third-down conversions.
“I was proud of our defense,” said Moropoulos. “They played physical, made some big plays and got some turnovers. Offensively, we need to take some heat off them and get them off the field a little bit longer.”
SBCC travels to Ventura on Saturday for a 6 p.m. game.
