PASADENA - Hancock College's first football game against Pasadena City College turned out to be a big win.

Diondrea Bryant scored the Bulldogs' last touchdown on a five-yard run, then Bulldogs receiver Marguelo Suel recovered an onside kick after a Pasadena touchdown with eight seconds left to preserve Hancock's 45-42 win in a see-saw SCFA National Conference Northern Division game at Pasadena Saturday night.

The Bulldogs (1-2, 4-3) snapped their own two-game losing streak and the Lancers' four-game winning streak. Pasadena is 2-1, 4-3.

Hancock plays Moorpark at 6 p.m. next Saturday at Righetti High School's Warrior Stadium. The game is an important one as far as the Bulldogs' post-season hopes go.

Hancock and Pasadena are part of the newly-formed Southern California Football Association. The National Conference is also a new one. Two teams from the conference's Northern Division will advance to the playoffs.

“This puts us back in (the hunt),” said Hancock coach Kris Dutra by phone afterward.

Concerning the game Saturday night, “I had no idea what it was going to be like, because we had never played them in football before,” Dutra said.

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“We really didn't understand their size and speed, because we hadn't played Pasadena before. That's the bottom line.”

Each team had six touchdowns. Bulldog Casey Beluz's 33-yard field goal as time ran out in the first half was the difference.

The game was scoreless after the first quarter. Then the offensive fireworks started.

Hancock ran the ball a whopping 66 times and rushed for a whopping 333 yards. Pasadena threw for 236 yards.

Bulldogs quarterback Eric Anderwkavich was an efficient 8-for-11, for 150 yards passing. He didn't throw an interception. Anderwkavich also ran for two short scores.

Two Hancock backs went over 100 yards rushing - way over. Telvin McMillian racked up 151 yards, on 19 carries. Bryant carried 25 times, for 139 yards.

“We knew we could run on them,” Dutra said. “We didn't know to what extent.

“We made some big plays too, crucial plays.” The Bulldogs were three-for-four on fourth down conversions.

There were five lead changes. No team led by more than a touchdown until Bryant's run and Casey Beluz's subsequent point after kick made it 45-35 with 47 seconds left. Titus Mack caught his second touchdown pass from Jonathan Troast with eight ticks remaining, then Suel recovered the onside kick.

Suel has become the Bulldogs' leading receiver the second half of the season. He had six catches for 134 yards and a touchdown Saturday night.

Anderwkavich threw a seven-yard touchdown pass to Boyce, a 69-yard scoring strike to Suel and a nine-yard touchdown pass to Chris Van Pelt.

Dutra said, “I'm really, really happy for the players. They are very happy. Their confidence has gone up.

“This was one of those games where you could see the team coming together as the game went along, especially the offensive line.”

Prep Water Polo

Santa Maria Tournament

Lompoc went 2-2 in the Santa Maria Tournament and wound up in third place Saturday.

Santa Maria went 1-3. Clovis East beat Fresno Bullard 12-4 in the championship game.

Bullard edged Lompoc 6-5 in double overtime Saturday. Clovis East beat the Braves 12-5 the day before. Lompoc (6-14) beat Los Padres League rivals Santa Maria 9-2 Friday and Morro Bay 14-2 Saturday.

Daniel Dunaetz and Kyle Pickles scored four goals each for Lompoc against Santa Maria. Dunaetz pumped in three goals against Bullard, but the Braves came up just short even with Pickles' five steals.

“We went six-for-24 on shots on goal against Bullard,” said Lompoc coach Kevin Hicks. “(Better accuracy is) one thing we're working on.”

Danaetz popped in four goals against Morro Bay. Robert Macias, Alex Stone and Taylor Emery all scored twice.

“Kyle Pickles had five assists,” said Hicks. “He could have scored a lot more. He did a real good job that way.” As it was, Pickles scored once.

Braves goal keeper Kyle Thumm made nine saves against Bullard. He had seven more against Morro Bay.

Humberto Moreno and Joey Buentiempo scored three times each for Santa Maria as the Saints (5-8) beat Morro Bay 12-4 for their tournament win. Nestor Nunez and Joey Garcia scored two goals each for Santa Maria.

Garcia scored both of the Saints' goals in their loss to Lompoc. Nunez put in three goals in Santa Maria's 12-5 loss to Bullard.

Clovis East beat Santa Maria 12-1 on opening day. Damian Juarez scored Santa Maria's goal.

In the championship game, Clovis East overpowered Bullard in the second half. The eventual tourney champions led 4-2 at halftime.

Garces Mem. 14, SJHS 2

The Bakersfield-based squad scored an impressive non-league win over the first-year Knights (0-7) at the Hancock College pool.

Jon Humann and Collin Cusack scored St. Joseph's goals. Goal keeper Jake Eszes made 18 saves.

October 19, 2008