SANTA ANA - The Dons opened the 2013 season with a 24-9 loss to visiting Bakersfield College at Santa Ana Stadium. The loss came despite the Dons dominating nearly every category in the game with the exception of touchdowns.
The Dons best scoring opportunity came early in the game when they drove down to the Bakersfield one-yard line before turning the ball over on downs. Later in the quarter, the Renegades got on the board first when Brock Martin broke free from the Dons defense on a 62-yard catch-and-run touchdown.
A few minutes later, in the second quarter, the Dons cut Bakersfield's lead to 7-3 on a 29-yard field goal by Ian Miller. That started a trend that continued into the third quarter with the Renegades scoring touchdowns while the Dons kicked field goals.
Bakersfield came back with its second touchdown of the game when Kwame Johnson ran in from 10-yards out to give the Renegades a 14-3 lead at the half.
Bakersfield opened scoring in the second half with a 32-yard field goal by Glen Campbell to put the Renegades up 17-3. Miller then converted his second field goal of the game, this time from 28-yards out, to cut Bakersfield's lead to 17-6 in the third quarter. The Dons would pull themselves within eight points at 17-9 on Marshel Gleason's 39-yard field goal with just over 12 minutes left in the fourth quarter.
The scoring then stalled for most of the remainder of the game until Preston Hodges broke a 50-yard touchdown run on third-and-nine with 1:26 left, one play after the Dons used their final timeout, that sealed the game for Bakersfield.
On the game, the Dons ran 26 more plays for 74 more yards while converting four more first downs. Hodges' 50-yard touchdown run at the end of the game nearly evened the rushing yards with the Renegades running for 173 yards while the Dons ran for 186 yards. Brett Hurley led a balanced run game with 48 yards on 10 carries while Divonte Beale rushed for 43 yards on 10 carries. Roosevelt Monk was the third back for the Dons to get consistent carries, running for 48 yards on 11 carries.
In the air, Mike Chislock finished 18-of-37 passing for 165 yards and two interceptions, both thrown in the third quarter with neither leading to a Bakersfield score. Kyle Merritt was Chislock's favorite target with four catches for 23 yards while Kameron Taylor had the most yards, 36, on two receptions.
Defensively, Jeffrey Worthy led the Dons with 10 tackles, six solo, including 2.5 tackles for a loss and one sack. Omar Perez, Lomitusi Sasi and Doyin Sule each had eight tackles apiece for the Dons.
The Dons travel next Saturday, September 14, to College of the Desert with kickoff at 6:00 p.m.
