Until the very end, BC never quit
By Evans On Sports
The Bakersfield College football season ended Saturday in the 36-26 loss at Mount San Antonio College in the semifinals (but first round) of the Southern California playoffs.
It was 30-7 entering the fourth quarter and BC got three TDs to make the final score more respectable, thanks to more than 200 passing yards in the quarter from quarterback Lyle Negron, who was playing his final game for the Gades.
A lot of credit for this team's success has to go to the coaching staff and players. In my opinion, this squad was not as talented as the 2007 or 2009 teams that also got KO'd from the SoCal playoffs by Mount SAC. But this team was tenacious and had a never-say-die attitude, and that carried it to an eyelash of hosting a playoff game and some notable wins, specifically against a very good Saddleback team in Week 2, an overtime win over Ventura and the regular-season finale when the Gades buried Canyons.
The fact that BC did this with no consistent running game is even more remarkable. Defense was the strength of this team, and defense was probably the biggest question entering the season with eight freshmen starters, and then the wild opener when L.A. Pierce had more than 500 yards in total offense (but BC won 52-41). But the defense turned it around quickly and was a quality unit by the middle of the second game (vs. Saddleback) and maintained its prowess (for the most part) the rest of the season.
One memory I'll have of Saturday's final game: offensive tackle David Born, hobbling so badly he could hardly walk from a leg injury suffered two weeks earlier vs. Cerritos. He didn't play the first three quarters, then somehow gutted it out to take the field in the fourth quarter. Finally, with about 2 minutes left, he got shaken up again and limped off the field. BC's coaches in the booth, sitting next to me, had told those on the field to pull Born out. But what a gutty effort to even go out there.
It was that type of attitude that carried BC to the 8-3 season. This team definitely left it all on the field.
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