MJC plays final home game of season on Saturday against Sacramento City

After being outscored 20-7 in the fourth quarter and falling 33-27 to Fresno City College last week, Modesto Junior College will play its final home game of the season Saturday when the Pirates face Sacramento City at 6 p.m.

MJC (5-3, 2-1) led by eight with five minutes left before giving up a 53-yard and 81-yard touchdown pass to end their four-game winning streak.

“There are 200 plays in a game and you can’t single out a play here and there,” Pirates coach Rusty Stivers said. “There were a lot of positives but a lot of mistakes by all of us. You live and learn and turn the page and can’t live in the past.”

Sac City (4-4, 2-1) has the “best” quarterback the Pirates will see this year in sophomore Jayden Machado, Stivers said.

Machado has thrown for 2,328 yards and 20 touchdowns this year and has thrown for over 275 yards in each of the last three games. Machado threw for 266 yards and three touchdowns in the Panthers’ 34-13 win over MJC last year.

“They throw the ball a lot which is going to be a test for us,” Stivers said.

With only two games left in the season, the Pirates need to win out and have Fresno City lose its last two games in order to make the playoffs. The Pirates could make the playoffs as an at-large team but the chances are small.