Huntington Beach, Calif. - The #4 Golden West College football team captured their first-ever Southern League Conference championship after outlasting the #7 Fullerton College Hornets 12-7.
The defense continues to dominate as they held the Hornets to a total of 253 yards of offense, 77 yards rushing, four sacks and one interception in the win.
In what was a defensive battle, the Rustlers held a 3-0 lead heading into halftime after Jake Cipres nailed a 39yd field with 5:14 remaining in the second quarter. Fullerton scored the games first touchdown in the third quarter to take the lead 7-3, a lead they held going into the fourth quarter.
Golden West used a seven play, 75 yard drive in the fourth quarter to take the lead back at 10-7 after running back Mike Carrillo punched it in from three yards out. On the ensuing kickoff, Fullerton returned the ball 64 yards to try and take the momentum back. The tough defense held Fullerton on the 1-yard line to keep them out of the endzone on a fourth and goal situation. The Rustlers took over on the 1-yard line when Jake Retzlaff hit Torrance Wiseman for a huge 66 yard pass to get out of their own endzone. Unfortunately, Retzlaff threw a rare interception to give Fullerton the ball back with a chance to take the lead. However, linebacker Harrison Cofell came up huge with a sack in the endzone for a safety to secure the 12-7 victory and the Southern League Championship.
Retzlaff finished the game 27 of 46 for 392 yards and the lone interception, Wiseman led the recieving corps with eight catches for 187 yards, and Carrillo accounted for the Rustlers lone touchdown.
Cofell, Pablo Araya, Ismail Souza, and Darren Vasquez each recorded a sack while Josue Alexandre came up with a fumble recovery for the defense.
Golden West ends the regular season 10-0 overall and 5-0 in league play to capture their first southern league championship and a berth in the regional playoffs starting November 27th. The bracket will be released Monday, November 22nd after the makeup games have been completed on Saturday, November 20th.
