A huge performance on offense and defense lead the Tigers to a lopsided homecoming victory over the Mt. San Jacinto College Eagles on Oct. 5.
Redshirt sophomore quarterback Brady Jones picked apart MSJC man coverage defense as he led an aerial assault for the Riverside City College football team in a 76-16 victory. He threw for 433 yards and five touchdowns while the defense accounted for two touchdowns on the defensive side of the ball.
“He hit some good deep balls consistently,” Tigers head coach Tom Craft said. “When they’re (MSJC) a man team they’re going to give up a lot.”
Jones would also rush for 52 yards on four carries and tack on another touchdown. He would connect with four different receivers for touchdowns including freshman receiver Dominic Cox and sophomore receiver Jackson Owens who both had over 100 receiving yards on the day.
“It’s fun having those guys,” Jones grinned. “I just got to get them the ball and let them do the rest.”
“We’ve been working in practice with all the receivers trying to make our connection strong,” Cox said.
Jones, who had six interceptions coming into the game stayed clean in the turnover department for the first time this season.
“I stayed more consistent and was able to stack plays and stack drives together,” Jones said. “Focusing in on practice and not forcing anything, taking what they give me,” Jones credited for the clean game.
The Tiger defense shined for a second straight week allowing 15 points per game in the past two contests. One of the top defensive linemen in the country sophomore Esaia Bogar led the charge keeping the MSJC quarterback on his back foot all game long while also taking a strip sack fumble to the endzone for six.
“I was pretty surprised to even still be in the game at that point,” Bogar said. “Coach said to go out there and get a touchdown and that’s exactly what I did.”
Bogar had three tackles, one for a loss, and three quarterback hurries in the game but reaffirmed his willingness to do more and be better.
“I thought we did well, but we let the foot off the pedal and gave them two touchdowns when they should’ve had none,” Bogar said. “We got to work on finishing those games out.”
RCC identity is starting to take form as the defending state champions hit the midway point of the season heading into their bye week.
“I think we’re more cohesive, guys are getting more opportunities that we haven’t really seen and that creates depth,” Craft said.
The Tigers return to action for the second half of the season on Oct. 19 when they travel to take on Grossmont.
“We have to treat every game like a playoff game, you never know what can happen,” Bogar said.
– Sergio Contreras contributed to this article
