Comets come back to win on Morales-to-Gamble touchdown

By ECS Staff
Updated: September 16, 2018

Palomar's Chase Morales and Logan Gamble (6) celebrates the go-ahead touchdown. / photo by Hugh Cox

DeVion Snead carries for Palomar while teammate Francisco Rodriguez blocks. / photo by Hugh Cox

2018 COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOOTBALL

PALOMAR 14, CITRUS 10

From Palomar Sports Information Dept.

ESCONDIDO (9-15-2018) / (REVISED 9-18-2018) – After battling a Citrus College team that won its first two games 52-13 and 75-0 to a scoreless tie for most of the evening on Saturday, Palomar fell behind 10-0 in the fourth quarter, then came to life in the closing minutes to send the Owls packing back to Glendora with their first loss.

The Comets scored their first points of the night on a 3-yard run by Vista Murrieta High’s star 2017 running back DeVion Sneed with 4:42 to play.

Gamble comes down with the game-winning reception. / photo by Hugh Cox

Then they stunned the Owls with their first loss 14-10 on an 11-yard pass from Carlsbad High’s Shea Morales to Cal transfer Logan Gamble in the middle of the end zone with 54 seconds left at Escondido High School’s Chick Embrey Field at Wilson Stadium.

“As soon as the defense got us the stop (following Sneed’s TD run) I knew we had a chance, and as soon as the play was called I knew (Gamble) would be wide open. We work on that play all the time in practice,” Morales said.

Gamble was by himself behind Citrus defender Harry Goodwin in the end zone, Morales laid the ball in his hands with a perfect pass and the rest is history.

“He made it easy for me and our line did a great job keeping them out all through the last drive,” Morales added.

After Citrus took the 10-0 lead the Comets came to life when David Wigand (Mission Hills High), who returned two kickoffs for 55 yards on the night, returned the ensuing kickoff 29 yards to the 50-yard line and, behind Sneed’s runs and a key 9-yard completion by Morales to 6-foot-1, 260-pound fullback Arnold Yoder, took the ball down to the Owls’ 11-yard line. But a bad snap that resulted in a sack pushed the ball back and Palomar missed a field goal.

After Palomar’s defense forced Citrus to punt, Morales completed passes to Bryce Walker and Devin Nilson (Carlsbad High) and, after a sack, hit Sneed on a 33-yard pass play down to the 7-yard line. Sneed carried 4 yards, then scored on a 3-yard run to get the Comets on the scoreboard.

Palomar head coach JOE EARLY talks to the team following the win over CItrus on Saturday night in Escondido. / photo by Hugh Cox

After the teams traded possessions, Palomar again forced Citrus to punt and took over at its own 35-yard line with 1:52 left in the game.

Morales hit on completions to Walker, to Johnny Armentrout (El Camino High) for 14 yards, to Shevell Sterling (Grossmont High) for 8 yards and to Nilson for 17 yards, and a facemask penalty again positioned the Comets at the Owls’ 11.

Morales then passed to Gamble for the winning TD, and Jacob Vose (El Camino High) kicked the PAT.

With Citrus out of timeouts, sacks by Isaac Tuia and Yusuf Leigh, the latter on the final play of the game, cemented the victory for the Comets.

Nilson caught five passes for 48 yards and punt returns of 8 and 31 yards.

Safety Giovanni Herra (Mira Mesa High) had a big night for the Comets defensively with seven tackles (all of them solo), including a sack / tackle for loss of 15 yards. In all, Palomar sacked Citrus’ quarterbacks five times for 55 yards in losses.

The Comets’ other sacks were contributed by Yasuf Leigh (Temecula Linfield Christian High), 2 for 9 yards; and down linemen Mason Simeta, 1 for 6 yards, and Isaac Tuia, 1 for 5 yards.

Cornerback Louie Flores (Mission Hills High broke up three passes.

Linebacker Spencer Kaoanga (Oceanside High) and Simeta had a series of big defensive plays in the fourth quarter.

And punter Jacob Stepanek again had another big night for the Comets, pinning the Owls inside their own 1-yard line and finishing with three punts inside the 20. They couldn’t take advantage of the punt to inside the 1, and soon after couldn’t get into the end zone after a first-and-10 at the Citrus 7.

Palomar again attempted to self-destruct with a series of untimely penalties but not when the game was on the line.

Coach Joe Early’s Comets will go on the road to play Ventura and Grossmont College the next two weekends, then will host defending state and national champion Fullerton College, an 85-0 winner over Santa Ana on Saturday, in their National Division Central League opener on Oct. 6.

Citrus vs. Palomar at Escondido, CA 9/15/2018 at 6:00 PM
Citrus 10	Palomar 14

SCORING	1	2	3	4	FINAL
Citrus (2-1)	0	0	3	7	10
Palomar (2-1)	0	0	0	14	14
Escondido, CA \|

PRD	TIME	SCORING SUMMARY	CITRUS – PALOMAR
3	09:16	Citrus – Sean Bailey, Jr. 19 yd field goal. Drive: 8 plays, 73 yards in 5:38.	3 – 0
4	11:41	Citrus – Major Lee 11 yd pass from Austin Zavala. (Sean Bailey, Jr. kick is good). Drive: 9 plays, 65 yards in 3:42.	10 – 0
4	04:42	Palomar – DeVion Sneed 3 yd run. (Mark Meader kick is good). Drive: 6 plays, 55 yards in 1:54.	10 – 7
4	00:54	Palomar – Logan Gamble 11 yd pass from Shea Morales. (Jacob Vose kick is good). Drive: 9 plays, 65 yards in 1:05.	10 – 14

CITRUS	STATISTICS	PALOMAR
16	FIRST DOWNS	13
9 2 5	Passing Rushing Penalty	8 4 1
25% (5 of 20)	THIRD DOWN EFFICIENCY	27% (3 of 11)
100% (1 of 1)	FOURTH DOWN EFFICIENCY	0% (0 of 1)
316	TOTAL OFFENSE	192
69 4.6	Total Offensive Plays Average gain per play	56 3.4
236	NET YARDS PASSING	152
20-32 7.4 5-35 1	Completions-Attempts Net yards per pass play Sacked: Number-Yards Had intercepted	13-29 5.2 5-33 1
80	NET YARDS RUSHING	40
37 2.2	Rushing Attempts Average gain per rush	27 1.5
8-262	PUNTS: Number-Yards	6-206
32.8	Average	34.3
47	TOTAL RETURN YARDS	134
1–1 2-48 1-0	Punt Returns: Number-Yards Kickoff Returns: Number-Yards Interception Returns: Number-Yards	5-65 3-69 1-0
13-83	PENALTIES: Number-Yards	8-66
1-0	FUMBLES: Number-Lost	0-0
5-33	SACKS: Number-Yards	5-35
1-0	INTERCEPTIONS: Number-Yards	1-0
38:46	TIME OF POSSESSION	21:02

Citrus

Palomar

PASSING	C-A	YDS	LG	TD	INT
Austin Zavala	20-31	236	51	1	1
Team	0-1	0	0	0	0

PASSING	C-A	YDS	LG	TD	INT
Shea Morales	10-21	127	33	1	1
Connor Curry	3-8	25	19	0	0

RUSHING	ATT	YDS	AVG	LG
Marcus Knight	12	85	7.1	29
James Brown	9	15	1.7	7
Justyn Alexander	5	14	2.8	6
Austin Zavala	11	-34	-3.1	6

RUSHING	ATT	YDS	AVG	LG	TD
DeVion Sneed	10	32	3.2	7	1
Shevell Sterling	6	28	4.7	7	0
Johnny Armentrout	1	1	1.0	1	0
Connor Curry	7	-4	-0.6	10	0
Shea Morales	3	-17	-5.7	0	0

RECEIVING	NO	YDS	AVG	LG	TD
Dennis Patrick Jr	12	151	12.6	51	0
Anthony Ruiz	3	41	13.7	19	0
James Brown	2	20	10.0	13	0
Major Lee	1	11	11.0	11	1
Joseph Castillo	1	7	7.0	7	0
Dexter Hunt, Jr.	1	6	6.0	6	0

RECEIVING	NO	YDS	AVG	LG	TD
Devin Nilson	5	48	9.6	17	0
DeVion Sneed	1	33	33.0	33	0
Logan Gamble	2	30	15.0	19	1
Bryce Walker	2	13	6.5	7	0
Johnny Armentrout	1	11	11.0	11	0
Arnold Yoder	1	9	9.0	9	0
Shevell Sterling	1	8	8.0	8	0

KICKING	FG	LG	XP	PTS
Sean Bailey, Jr.	1/1	19	1/1	4

KICKING	FG	LG	XP	PTS
Mark Meader	0/1	0	1/1	1
Jacob Vose			1/1	1

PUNTING	NO	YDS	AVG	LG	TB	IN 20
Sean Bailey, Jr.	8	262	32.8	37	0	0

PUNTING	NO	YDS	AVG	LG	TB	IN 20
Jacob Stepanek	6	206	34.3	47	0	2

KICKOFFS	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	OB
Sean Bailey, Jr.	3	136	45.3	0	0

KICKOFFS	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	OB
Mark Meader	2	130	65.0	1	0
Jacob Stepanek	1	41	41.0	0	1

KICKOFF RETURNS	NO	YDS	AVG	LG	TD
Justyn Alexander	2	48	24.0	33	0

KICKOFF RETURNS	NO	YDS	AVG	LG	TD
Damon Wigand	2	55	27.5	29	0
Arnold Yoder	1	14	14.0	14	0

PUNT RETURNS	NO	YDS	AVG	LG	TD
Sebastian Melendez	1	-1	-1.0	0	0

PUNT RETURNS	NO	YDS	AVG	LG	TD
Devin Nilson	2	39	19.5	32	0
Johnny Arzola	3	26	8.7	24	0

INTERCEPTION RETURNS	NO	YDS	AVG	LG	TD
Tre Curtis	1	0	0.0	0	0

INTERCEPTION RETURNS	NO	YDS	AVG	LG	TD
Jonathon Segi	1	0	0.0	0	0

FUMBLES	NO	LOST
Austin Zavala	1	0

FUMBLES	NO	LOST

DEFENSIVE STATISTICS
#	CITRUS	SOLO	AST	TOTAL	SACKS-YDS	TFL-YDS	FF	FR-YDS	INT-YDS	BRUP	BLKS	QBH
90	Henry Karimu	4	2	6	3.5 – 21	3.5 – 21		–	–			1
27	Chima Mbaruguru	2	2	4	–	–		–	–
32	DJ Allen	2	2	4	1.5 – 12	1.5 – 12		–	–
4	Derrion Warner	3	0	3	–	–		–	–	1
8	Harry Goodwin	3	0	3	–	–		–	–
9	Grant Trueman	3	0	3	–	–		–	–
30	Reginald Patterson	2	1	3	–	1 – 2		–	–
36	Jerry Valencia	3	0	3	–	–		–	–
6	Sean Bailey, Jr.	2	0	2	–	–		–	–
14	Levi Harris	1	1	2	–	–		–	–
24	Abood Elias	2	0	2	–	–		–	–
29	Kele Scott	2	0	2	–	–		–	–
50	Ignacio Silva	2	0	2	–	–		–	–
56	Allen Nelson	2	0	2	–	1 – 2		–	–
18	Matthew Jimenez	1	0	1	–	–		–	–
35	Jakub Campbell	0	1	1	–	–		–	–
42	Joseph Reynolds	1	0	1	–	–		–	–
45	Grant Wilson	0	1	1	–	–		–	–
58	Branden Reed	1	0	1	–	–		–	–
99	Jonathan Shelley	1	0	1	–	–		–	–			1
TM	Team	1	0	1	–	–		–	–
11	Tre Curtis				–	–		–	1-0	1
TOTALS		38	10	48	5 – 33	7 – 37		0-0	1-0	2		2
#	PALOMAR	SOLO	AST	TOTAL	SACKS-YDS	TFL-YDS	FF	FR-YDS	INT-YDS	BRUP	BLKS	QBH
33	Giovanni Herrera	7	0	7	1 – 15	1 – 15		–	–
45	Spencer Kaoanga	4	3	7	–	–		–	–
43	Chris Calhoun	4	2	6	–	1 – 5		–	–
99	Isaac Tuia	5	0	5	1 – 5	1 – 5		–	–	1
1	Jay Craft	3	1	4	–	–		–	–
20	Cameron Bullock	3	1	4	–	–		–	–
51	Yasuf Leigh	3	1	4	2 – 9	2 – 9		–	–
9	Jihad Hightower	3	0	3	–	–		–	–
31	Jonathon Segi	2	1	3	–	1 – 1		–	1-0
21	Louie Flores	1	1	2	–	–		–	–	3
26	Maxwell Milner	2	0	2	–	–		–	–
34	Quinton Gaudet	2	0	2	–	–		–	–
93	Martin Bonacci	2	0	2	–	2 – 4		–	–
96	Jordan Duson	2	0	2	–	–		–	–
98	Mason Simeta	1	1	2	1 – 6	1 – 6		–	–
15	Zach Morel	1	0	1	–	–		–	–
49	Orion Diaz	0	1	1	–	–		–	–
90	Isaiah Kaleopa-Tuisee	1	0	1	–	–		–	–
92	Koa Evalu-Robinson	1	0	1	–	–		–	–
94	Nick So’oto	1	0	1	–	1 – 1		–	–
TOTALS		48	12	60	5 – 35	10 – 46		0-0	1-0	4