Aggressive BC defense vexes Long Beach in win
The Bakersfield College Renegades got just 185 passing yards from three different quarterbacks, one of whom threw a picksix. Peter Delis missed a field goal and an extra point. And returner Jaylan Lawson muffed a punt to let Long Beach City College back into the game late.
But the Renegades’ defense made it all OK.
One week after a breakout performance at Ventura, the Renegades got the better of the Vikings to the tune of four turnovers, all of which came in the second half. BC’s offense struggled to put the game away, but Lawson atoned for his error with a 93-yard defensive touchdown to seal the victory.
“Tonight was one of those where we continued to preach takeaways and taking care of the ball on offense,” BC coach R. Todd Littlejohn said. “And you see, those guys start to excite and energize the entire team.”
The other standout for the Renegades was Antonio Robinson. Entering Saturday, despite being BC’s primary runner for four games, Robinson had never rushed for more than 71 yards or 3.7 yards per carry. Against Long Beach, he had 24 carries for 117 yards and a touchdown for a 4.9 average.
“He just played with some passion,” Littlejohn said. “I told him, you gotta be able to run the ball downhill... run like he’s capable of running.”
BC improved to 1-2 in conference, but just 2-6 overall after forfeiting three previous non-conference games due to an administrative error. Long Beach is also 1-2 in conference and now 3-5 overall.
Neither team played like a conference contender early. BC had some good luck when a bad snap stopped Long Beach’s momentum, then on its own drive when the Vikings were called for roughing the kicker. Both stop-and-start drives ended in missed field goals.
On the last play of the first quarter, Littlejohn replaced starting quarterback Dexter Frampton with backup Richard Lara. But on his second drive, Lara mistimed a slant route and was intercepted by De’Jon VanHook, who returned the pass 33 yards for an easy Vikings touchdown. Littlejohn then sent in Garrett Castro (3of-8, 60 yards), who got three drives into Long Beach territory, but two ended in punts and a third in a turnover on downs. Frampton returned for the second half.
The coach described his reasoning as follows: “They’re going to be evaluated every single time. The guy who’s playing the best is going to play.”
Trailing 7-0, the Renegades caught a big break when Blaze McKibbin, one of two quarterbacks the Vikings rotated, fumbled. It took just four plays for Frampton to find Isaac Jernagin for a 6-yard touchdown. Delis’s extra point hit the upright.