MARAUDERS FALL TO 3-2 WITH LOSS TO ALLAN HANCOCK

Photos by WILLIAM ORTIZ

AVC Football ended its non-conference play with a 47-13 loss to Allan Hancock on Saturday.

Things looked promising in the opening minutes as the Marauders got on the board early, scoring on their first drive. Jaylen O'Neil rushed for 70 yards on AVC's second offensive play. AVC wouldn't score again until late in the fourth quarter.

What happened in between was a rushing clinic on display by the Bulldogs. At the same time, the Marauders appeared to be putting on a poor tackling clinic. It started when Allan Hancock promptly responded to AVC's first score with a rushing touchdown of their own. Eddie Battle capped off a 5-play drive with a 29-yard touchdown run.

Down 7-6 at the end of the first quarter, The Marauders struggled to move the chains on offense, while the defense struggled to contain the Bulldogs rushing attack. Hancock would score two more rushing TDs on a 3-yard run from Maurice Smith, and a 13-yard run from Eddie Battle for his second score. After a field, the Marauders trailed 24-6 at the half.

AVC held the Bulldogs to a field goal on their opening drive of the second half, but they rushing attack wouldn't be denied on Hancock's next two possessions. Maurice Smith scored his second touchdown from a yard out, and DJ Whitmill scored on a 17-yard run to close out the third quarter. Smith came back for more in the fourth with his third touchdown of the game on a 3-yard score. The Bulldogs totaled 350 rushing yards on the day.

Jaylen Miller caught a 28-yard touchdown pass from Austen Breaux in the later minutes of the fourth to give the Marauders their second touchdown. Breaux led AVC with 82 yards passing and one touchdown, while Jaylen O'Neil led AVC on the ground with 78 yards and a touchdown on eight attempts.

The Marauders (3-2) will start conference play next Saturday as they take on San Bernardino Valley (4-1) at AVC at 6:00 pm.