FOOTBALL TEAM WINS AT BAKERSFIELD, 28-17

BAKERSFIELD-- A productive offense and a defense that awakened in the second half gave the Allan Hancock College football team its first victory ever over mid-state and Western State Conference-rival Bakersfield at Memorial Stadium, 28-17.
Hancock (3-2, 2-1 WSC) produced its best night of the season through the air, as quarterbck Chad Nicholson (So., Morro Bay) completed 19-of-26 aerials for 252 yards and two touchdowns. Not surprisingly, it was a big night for the Bulldog receivers as well. Brad Sorenson (So., Chico Pleseant Valley) caught eight passes for 89 yards and a touchdown, Ryan Bugg (Fr., Atascadero) hauled in five for 69 yards and Bryan Watje five for 47 and the other touchdown.
Overall, the Bulldogs mustered 344 yards of total offense and made 16 first downs. On te ground, freshman tailback Paul Jordan (San Luis Obispo) had a breakout game, rushing 10 times for 73 yards. Lucious Sloan (So., Santa Maria) added 20 yards on 10 carries and ripped off 29 more on a screen pass. Nicholson, who had a hand all the Hancock scoring, got into the end zone twice on quarterback sneaks.
Defensively, the Bulldogs allowed Bakersfield (3-2, 1-2 WSC) to match scores in the early going, then settled down to shut the Renegades down in the second half. Linebacker Trevor Shamblee (Fr., Jamaica Queens, NY) had a team-high 11 tackles, including seven solo stops. Danny Brown (So., Righetti) added nine, including a shoe-string sack from behind on a fourth-and-five late in the game that ended all hopes for BC. Greg Dutra (So., Arroyo Grande), Ricky Perkins (So., Arroyo Grande), Michael Slaughter (Fr., Lompoc) and David Pitts (So., Arroyo Grande) also turned in stellar performances for the AHC defense.
After a three-and-out on their first possession, Nicholson marched the Bulldogs to scores on the next two. The first was a seven-play, 57-yard drive, highlighted by Jordan's 31-yard run to the Renegade one. The second consumed 12 plays and covered 72 yards, with Sloan's 29-yard run with a screen pass the key play.
Bakersfield answered each of those scores and tied the game at 14 on a 41-yard run by Ricky Herod with 2:38 remaining in the half. After the ensuing kickoff was ruled out-of-bounds, Nicholson drove Hancock 65 yards in eight quick plays and the Bulldogs took the lead for good on his 23-yard touchdown pass to Watje.
After a scoreless third period, Bakersfield closed the gap to 21-17 on a 40-yard field goal by Bryan Sullivan with 9:30 left in the game. The Bulldogs answered three minutes later, driving 60 yards in five plays to Nicholson's second TD, which was set up by a 50-yard pass and run to Sorenson.
The Bulldogs will take a week off with their lone bye of the season this next week, then return to Western State Conference action at home versus Los Angeles Southwest College on Oct. 18.