Cruise Adams threw four interceptions and the Bakersfield College football team turned the ball over six times, dropping to 3-5 after a 42-24 loss to Cerritos College on Nov. 2.
BC beat Moorpark College 37-14 back on Oct. 26 and extended its win streak to two games before the loss to Cerritos.
The Renegades quickly jumped over the Raiders in the game two weeks ago, going up 20-0 in the first quarter and took a 23-7 lead into the half.
Adams threw two touchdowns and had 117 passing yards on six completions. Kwame Johnson had 114 rushing yards to go along with 56 yards and one touchdown by Preston Hodges.
The Renegades defense forced four turnovers and was able to get on the board first when Cody Jones took a 40-yard interception return into the end zone when he picked off Raiders quarterback Nick Davis on their opening drive.
“We didn’t turn it over and they did,” BC head coach Jeff Chudy said when asked how his team was able to come away with a dominant performance. “We capitalized on great field position and we had some really good punt returns that set us up to score.”
BC then took a two-game winning streak on the road against the Northern National Division leader Cerritos (6-2, 4-0).
“We’re not going to get it done with six turnovers,” Chudy said when asked why his team allowed 42 points for the first time since losing to College of the Canyons 42-14 back on Oct 5. “We’re taking ourselves off the field and putting them on the field. It’s pretty hard to overcome six turnovers,” he added.
Adams completed 13-of-28 passes with 212 yards and threw four interceptions to four different Cerritos defenders. Quarterback Cody Clements from Cerritos went 12-for-15, 146 yards through the air and three touchdowns, with one rushing.
Clements, along with running backs Michael Jasper and Elijhaa Penny, each had 70-plus yards on the ground and combined for 223 yards and four touchdowns.
“Cerritos made some plays and I think we had some guys that were probably pressing and trying a little bit too hard and trying to do more than what they were asked to do,” Chudy said when asked how Cerritos was able to attack so constantly. “You got to give Cerritos credit. They’re on a roll, and they made the plays when they had to make them and we didn’t.”
BC was able to cut Cerritos’ lead to 11 with 5:33 seconds left in regulation. Cerritos got the ball back and drove down the field in six plays to seal the game on a 6-yard rushing score by Jasper.
“I thought our guys played extremely hard,” Chudy explained. “A lot of times, effort doesn’t equal execution, and we just didn’t execute when we needed to execute at the end of the day.”
The game against Moorpark was the Renegades homecoming game and had an attendance of 3,360 fans. BC’s final home game will be Nov. 9 against Allan Hancock College, and the Renegades will travel to Pasadena College on Nov. 16 for its season finale.