Offensive struggles doom BC football in 24-14 loss to Golden West

Sep. 18—Just before halftime Saturday night, Bakersfield College faced fourth down from Golden West's 1-yard line, trailing 14-7. A well-executed play could put the Renegades in a tie game at halftime.

Anyale Velazquez took a handoff from quarterback Joseph Campbell out of the pistol and was denied on a run up the middle. And the Renegades never got that close again.

On a night when they got a pair of punt-return touchdowns from Christopher Thompson, they also managed just 164 yards of offense. Golden West was the more consistent team throughout and took home a 24-14 victory.

"It's almost like a ping-pong match with Golden West," BC head coach R. Todd Littlejohn said. "The team that makes the fewest mistakes is going to win, and they made fewer mistakes."

The impact of the Rustlers' goal-line stand was exacerbated when Campbell sailed a pass over Khaden Harris for a Malachi Gatewood interception on BC's first play of the second half. By the time the Renegades got the ball back they were down 24-7.

Campbell went 9-of-16 for 88 yards with that pick, and fellow quarterback Tyce Griswold was 9-of-16 for 62 yards, in performances that Littlejohn called "really disappointing." The two quarterbacks were also sacked a total of six times.

"We didn't get the play that I felt like we could have," Littlejohn said. "We had a game plan going into (the game), we felt really good about that, it did not get executed.

"We'll watch the film and take a look and see which one performed the best."

Golden West got plenty of production from its quarterback Malakai Martinez, who had 185 yards through the air and 53 on the ground for two total touchdowns. The team totaled 176 rushing yards, with its third score coming from Sam Lybeer.

The Rustlers kept the Renegades guessing early with Martinez's scrambling ability. On Golden West's opening series, it reached BC's 25 before three straight incompletions. The Rustlers were called for a false start on a field goal try and decided to punt instead.

Golden West started its next drive at the Renegades' 44, catching a break when a Robert Sarmiento fumble was recovered by teammate Mwanza Fitzpatrick, then Fitzpatrick fumbled out of bounds. Three plays later Martinez hit Sarmiento for a 19-yard touchdown to give Golden West a 7-0 lead.

BC had just 35 yards of offense in the first quarter but got a break on the final play. Jake Cipres had a punt wiped out due to offsetting penalties. On his second try, Thompson bounced off two tacklers and sped down the right sideline for a 58-yard touchdown return to tie the game.

But Golden West benefited from special teams too and regained the lead quickly. Early in the second quarter, Tristin Skinner had trouble handling a snap and got his punt blocked and recovered by Jordan Palomino, setting up a quick score from Lybeer.

The drive before the half was Campbell's best, highlighted by a third-and-3 improvisation on which he rolled out to his left to hit Jaquell Bonner for 25 yards. But after reaching first-and-goal from the 10-yard line with a minute left, the Renegades couldn't convert.

Then the Rustlers parlayed their first drive of the second half into a Cipres field goal, and turned Campbell's pick into a Kross Antonnacchi 30-yard run to set up a Martinez touchdown.

Griswold entered at quarterback, but BC punted on all five of his drives.

As for the Rustlers, they had their own goal-line struggles late, at one point reaching the 1-yard line but going backward on holding and false start penalties. The officials appeared to inadvertently award them a fifth down from the 12-yard line, but Cipres missed a field goal.

After sitting some starters, Golden West had to punt with under two minutes left. Thompson seized the opportunity with an even more impressive 83-yard touchdown return up the left sideline. But the ensuing onside kick was recovered by Kennewell to halt the brief rally.

BC fell to 1-2, and will host Mt. San Antonio College next week.

"They don't care if we won or lost," Littlejohn said. "They're coming in to beat us."

Reporter Henry Greenstein can be reached at 661-395-7374. Follow him on Twitter: @HenryGreenstein.