COD football bounces back with dominant conference win over Grossmont College
College of the Desert was coming off of a tough 64-14 conference loss against Mt. San Jacinto, but the Roadrunners returned to their winning ways Saturday afternoon.
The Roadrunners dominated Grossmont College, earning an important 48-7 win as they chase a postseason bowl game.
"I talked about it all week," said COD head coach Jack Steptoe. "We put that last game behind us on Monday. The result (Saturday) was probably our first complete game where we had offense, defense and special teams all working together from start to finish.
"I told the guys that the last game was over and asked them what they would do to bounce back, and we bounced back in a great way," he said. "This was easily our most complete game all year."
The Roadrunners started the game off hot, scoring on their opening drive and quickly getting a stop on defense. That summed up the first half for the Roadrunners as they scored four times while holding the Griffin offense to only 48 yards before entering halftime with a 28-0 lead.
The second half was more of the same. College of the Desert's offense scored three more times while the defense forced multiple turnovers, with the only touchdown being scored early in the fourth quarter after the starters had been pulled.
College of the Desert improved to 7-2 overall and 3-1 in American Mountain League play. The win moved the Roadrunners into a good spot to be invited to play in a bowl game. But Steptoe cautioned his team needs to close out the regular season with a victory.
"Another opponent in our way that we have to finish," Steptoe said. "We have one more game in the regular season against Victor Valley. Like I told them, I don't care about the postseason, I want them to focus on current events right now. It's another game and if we don't come out with the focus we did right now it could be another problem for us.
"I'm not gonna take anybody lightly," he said. "They're going to line up with 11 just like we are."
The stars
Quarterback Cesar Vela put together one of his best games this season and did most of his work in the first half. Vela completed 21 passes for 255 yards and three touchdowns, while also running for 40 yards and a score. Wide receivers Kevin Johnson, Ty Hershberger and Dylan Maldonado each caught a touchdown pass from Vela.
Johnson scored on a fade route from 23 yards, Hershberger outmuscled a defensive back for the football and went 39 yards for a score, and Maldonado caught a pass in the back of the end zone with seven seconds left in the first half.
Running backs Ilyas Abdullah and Jelani Brown each got into the end zone for the Roadrunners on the ground. Abdullah scored from five yards, while Brown scored from four yards.
On defense, linebacker Maurice Davis was everywhere for the Roadrunners and finished with six tackles, a sack, a pass breakup and a tackle for loss. Linebacker Rae'Jon Lavender was another reason for the defensive success. Lavender had six tackles, half of a sack, a tackle for loss and an interception.
Defensive end Gerliaer Ervin caused problems along the Griffins offensive line, finishing with six tackles, 1.5 sacks and multiple tackles for loss.
What's next?
COD (7-2, 3-1) plays at Victor Valley at 1 p.m. Saturday.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: COD football bounces back with dominant conference win over Grossmont College
