BC travels to Antelope Valley for conference opener, looking for third straight win
Sep. 22—With a pair of home victories under its belt, the Bakersfield College football team will be looking for a third straight win when it travels to Antelope Valley College for the National Northern Conference opener on Saturday at 6 p.m.
The Renegades (2-1) have moved up to No. 17 in the latest JCAB state poll, riding the success of an opportunistic defense in last week's 43-20 victory over San Bernardino Valley.
BC had three interceptions, returning two for scores as bookends to the team's six touchdowns on the night. The 'Gades also recovered a fumble and registered five sacks
Jakwon Lamb opened the scoring with a 55-yard pick-6 just 1:46 into the game and Donovan Foster capped things off by returning an interception 77 yards for a score with 2:54 to play.
Offensively, Bakersfield eclipsed 400 yards in total offense for the second straight week, but three lost fumbles and 135 yards in penalties kept the score from really getting lopsided.
The Renegades' ground attack continues to make strides after struggling most of last season. Jordan Norwood rushed for 86 yards and two scores and Jalen Hankins ran for 62 yards and added another 47 yards with a pair of receptions. As a team, BC averaged 4.9 yards per carry against SBV.
The 'Gades passing attack has been efficient with redshirt freshman Carson Woods leading the way, completing nearly 70% of his passes for 617 yards, four touchdowns and just one interception.
The former Liberty High standout has thrown to multiple receivers in the first three weeks, with Daylon Leach (12 catches for 107 yards) and Dom D'Amato (10 catches for 223 yards and a TD) his favorite targets this far. D'Amato's scoring catch came in traffic last week with the Garces graduate making a difficult catch look easy.
The Marauders (1-2) are coming off a 38-21 loss at Saddleback, but their lone victory came at home with a Week 2 overtime victory over Grossmont, 34-31.
AVC had just 248 yards in total offense last week and were sacked eight times. The majority of that yardage came through the air, with two long touchdown passes accounting for a large chunk of the team's total yardage.
Antelope Valley led briefly against Saddleback when Jordan Baker returned an interception 100 yards for a touchdown to account for the only points in the third quarter, but the Bobcats finished the game with three fourth-quarter touchdowns to put the game out of reach.
