Lopsided 2nd quarter sinks BC in loss to Canyons
In a battle of California Community College Athletic Association top-10 teams — College of the Canyons at No. 4, Bakersfield at No. 8 in both polls — one team justified its high ranking and the other fell flat.
The Cougars marched into Memorial Stadium and converted three early interceptions from BC quarterback Dexter Frampton into three touchdowns and outscored the Renegades 21-0 in the second quarter en route to a 35-21 road victory to open Western State Conference play.
COC (6-0) quarterback Colton Doyle completed 17 of 27 passes for 255 yards with two touchdowns and one interception and added 83 rushing yards and another touchdown.
Doyle kept the Renegades (4-2) defense guessing on run-pass options all night and most of the game they guessed wrong. The BC secondary allowed long passes of 42, 54 and 56 yards.
“If your eyes are undisciplined, that’s what’s gonna happen, literally,” BC coach R. Todd Littlejohn said. “Guys start looking and seeing what they’re not supposed to see.”
Frampton’s first pick came on BC’s opening drive on a third and 12 when he wanted Jayden Smith over the middle. COC started at BC’s 35 and called seven straight running plays, ending with a sneak by Doyle for the opening touchdown.
To the Renegades’ credit, they responded immediately. Frampton completed six straight short passes to lead BC down the field on a methodical 14-play, 77-yard touchdown drive that culminated in a 22-yard toss from Frampton to Isaac Jernagin to tie the game at 7.
Unlike BC’s first loss at Mt. San Antonio in which Frampton was erratic throughout, he finished with 311 yards and three touchdowns to offset his interceptions.
The following six drives after BC tied it up resulted in punts, but then the Cougars opened the floodgates in the second quarter with a first-play deep shot from Doyle to Tiquan Gilmore for 42 yards.
Three plays later, the two connected again for a 7-yard touchdown.
The Cougars needed just two more plays to add two more scores in just over four minutes.
After a nice catch for Myron Randle between two defenders, Frampton had a pass batted at the line of scrimmage and intercepted by Cole Bullock, who returned it to BC’s 8 to set up a touchdown run for Cyrus Zuell.