MJC’s offense struggles as No. 3 Pirates fall to No. 10 Fresno City College
For three quarters, Modesto Junior College’s offense was struggling.
The Pirates, who entered Saturday’s Valley Conference game against Fresno City College averaging 38 points per game, were trailing 20-3 entering the fourth.
However, MJC’s offense found its rhythm and scored on the first play of the fourth on a 72-yard touchdown pass from redshirt sophomore quarterback Danny Velasquez (Turlock) to sophomore wide receiver Jordan Porter (Turlock).
A once-deflated sideline was suddenly energetic. The Pirates would add another touchdown a few minutes later to cut the Rams’ lead to three but a couple of mistakes late in the fourth proved costly as the Rams (3-0, 6-2) held on for a 26-24 victory.
“We are going to find out what kind of team we are,” Pirates coach Rusty Stivers told the team afterwards.
MJC (2-1, 6-2) had the ball with 2 minutes, 33 seconds remaining and trailing by a field goal but sophomore quarterback Brett Neves’ (Downey) pass was intercepted and the Rams scored on the next play on a 11-yard rushing touchdown by Rico Rosario.
The Pirates responded with a 11-yard touchdown pass from Neves to freshman wide receiver Lucas Curtis (Turlock) with 50 seconds remaining but MJC failed to recover the onside kick and the Rams ran out the clock.
“There still is a lot at stake,” Stivers said. “We have a good record and four teams are vying from the North for a shot at the state playoffs.”
The Pirates and Rams have finished either first or second in the conference in each of the last four years and in the first half, both offenses struggled to gain momentum.
MJC scored on its opening possession on a 26-yard field goal by freshman kicker Parker Bonin (Tracy) and the Pirates led 3-0 after one quarter.
After FCC tied the game on a Jack Cooper 37-yard field goal early in the second, the Pirates drove down to the Rams’ four-yard line but were stopped on 4th-and-1. The Rams moved the ball nearly 80 yards and added a field goal right before halftime to take a 6-3 lead.
“We have to score in the red zone and we expect to convert on short-yardage plays.”
Stivers said some of the offense’s issues were “self-inflicted” but Fresno City’s defense played soft in the secondary and kept the Pirates’ receivers in front of them.
Velasquez finished with 193 passing yards and a touchdown and added 65 rushing yards while Porter had five receptions for 116 yards and a touchdown.
MJC is at Sacramento City next Saturday at 4 p.m.
“The season is not over,” Porter told his teammates after the game.
This story was originally published November 2, 2019 at 10:20 PM.
