Cats win Southern League title

The Saddleback football team defeated El Camino College, 49-7, on Saturday afternoon inside the stadium.  With the win, the Bobcats win the National Division Southern League championship.

Saddleback dominated from start to finish, leaving no doubt who the best team was on the field on the final Saturday of the regular season.  The Bobcats were dominant on both sides of the ball, putting up 505 yards of offense while forcing five turnovers on defense. 

Saddleback started on defense and quickly forced a turnover when Orlando Gonzalez fell on a ball at the El Camino 39-yard line on a lateral pass towards the sideline.  It gave Saddleback's offense great field position and the Bobcats cashed in five plays later when Darrien Campbell broke off a 17-yard touchdown run for the early lead. 

On the ensuing drive, Lucas Short stepped in front of a Andrew Maushardt pass and returned it 40 yards for a score and Saddleback had a 14-0 lead before any of the players had even worked up a sweat.

Later in the quarter, Saddleback took over on their own 10-yard line after the defense had made another stop.  The offense then generated a 9-play drive that went 90 yards, with Campbell hitting paydirt for a second time on a four-yard score with 4:28 remaining in the first quarter.

Saddleback then blew the doors wide open to start the second quarter.  Coen Ali stepped in front of an El Camino pass on the opening play of the quarter and returned it to the El Camino three-yard line to set up another short field for the offense.  The Bobcats scored two plays later when Tyler Dudden hit Joseph Walter on a slant pattern from four yards and the Saddleback lead swelled to 28-0 with 14:05 left in the half.

Saddleback added insult to injury late in the half when the defense stepped up again and stopped El Camino on downs.  The Bobcats proceeded to drive 55 yards in eight plays with Dudden calling his own number on an 8-yard touchdown run and a 35-0 lead at the intermission.

Saddleback opened the second half the same way they opened the first half when they scored on the very first play from scrimmage as Kavaughn Clark took the handoff and shook off a couple of would-be tacklers in running 90 yards along the sidelines for a score.  It made the score 42-0 just 22 seconds into the second half and essentially put the final nail in the coffin with nearly an entire half to play.

El Camino finally broke through with a score late in the third quarter after a long pass play got them within the 10 yard-line for their first trip inside the red zone.  They finally pushed the ball across the goal line with Jaden Moore scoring a 9-yard touchdown.

Saddleback added a late score when Campbell dove over the pile for his third score of the game with 11:03 remaining in the game.  It was the fifth rushing touchdown on the day for the Bobcats, who rolled up 308 yards on the ground for the game.

Saddleback held a 505-308 advantage in total yardage for the game, making good on 10-of-17 third down opportunities and 2-of-2 fourth down chances. 

Dudden finished 14-of-22 for 172 yards passing and a touchdown pass to lead the quarterbacks.  Campbell (114) and Clark (102) both went over 100 yards on the ground while Francisco Martinez had a big day at receiver, catching eight balls for 67 yards through the air.

Saddleback is now 9-1 overall and wins the National Division Southern League title with a perfect 7-0 record.  It was the first league title for the program since 2016 and the 25^th league title in program history.

Saddleback now waits to see what playoff seed they get when the seeds are handout out.  A decision is expected before the end of the weekend.  Keep it tuned to saddlebackbobcats.com for all the latest breaking news on playoff matchups and times of games.