SANTA ANA, Calif. - The Santa Ana College Football team led from start to finish as they defeated the LA Southwest Cougars (6-5, 3-2) 35-20 in the 2024 Western State Bowl on Monday, November 25th. With the win, SAC (8-3, 3-2) collected their second consecutive bowl game victory.
Game deciding plays were made right from the start as SAC forced a fumble on the initial kickoff and recovered the ball at the LASW 31 yard yard line.
Freshman quarterback Nate Bento took advantage of the Cougar miscue, marching 31 yards and closing the drive with a four yard touchdown pass to Nathan Meek on fourth down.
The Santa Ana defense came out energized with a 7-0 lead and forced a three and out to give the ball right back to the Dons.
With plus field position once again, SAC drove the ball down the field and scored a second touchdown on a five yard rush by Owen Smith, making it a 14-0 game.
Although the night looked like it could be a one sided fight, LA Southwest would not go quietly as they put a drive together on their next possession. The Cougars used a series of quick passes and timely runs to drive 66 yards downfield on 11 plays to get on the board with a touchdown in the second quarter.
The two teams went back and forth with a couple more touchdowns in the second quarter until the Dons capped the half with a 90 yard kickoff return by freshman safety Malachi Bey and an interception in the endzone by sophomore defensive back Emari Hart, giving them a 28-14 lead at the break.
Both teams started the second half with punts as defenses made good adjustments during halftime. But the Dons found a way to punch through first as Bento connected with James Farmer for an 11 yard pitch and catch to end a six play, 62 yard drive to push the lead to 35-14.
From that point, the Dons kept the ball on the ground and played great defense to close the game out. LASW tacked on another with just under 20 seconds left on the clock in the fourth but it was too little, too late.
Bento led the offense, throwing for 206 yards with three touchdowns and an interception while the trio of running backs Williams Saucedo, Owen Smith and Ethan Fraser combined for 142 yards and a score on the ground.
In his last game as a Don, Farmer was at his best, recording four catches for 44 yards and two touchdowns to earn Santa Ana College Player of the Game honors. Fellow receiver Damien Gomez added six receptions and 103 yards in his best game of the year.
Defensively, it was Zamir Richarson who came to play as the standout sophomore out of El Dorado racked up eight tackles, two sacks and a pass break up to claim Most Valuable Player of the Game.
Malachi Bey, Owen Tesch and Evan Palady also recorded eight tackles a piece to anchor the SAC defense.
Although the Dons will be losing a handful of impactful sophomores they are set to come back strong next season with plenty of talented freshmen on the roster.
