In the seventh annual Clo Classic, the Bear Cubs lost to Fresno City College 24-20. SRJC came into the game undefeated and ranked fourth in Northern California. It was the lowest number of points scored this season. SRJC came into the game averaging 48 points a game.

At the beginning of the first quarter a missed extra point turned out to be the difference.

The Bear Cubs headed down field, completing passes to Brandyn Reed and Brandon Lucas with 11 seconds left. With all other wide receivers covered heavily by the Rams defensive backs, the Bear Cubs attempted a pass to Reed as a last resort but it was incomplete.

“The play was an-out- and up; they covered it well and the corner played it good,” said Head Coach Keith Simons.

SRJC felt confident that they could run an effective two-minute drill. “We felt good about our chances but didn’t execute,” said quarterback Adam Froman

Froman went 28-45, 378 yards with two touchdowns passes to Jarred Garcia. Froman was well balanced in his attack, spreading the ball around to connect with 10 different Bear Cub receivers. The Rams however kept Froman from getting into any kind of groove with constant pressure, forcing him to flee out of the pocket on numerous occasions. Froman was sacked six times by Fresno with five sacks coming in the first half.

The Bear Cubs ran quick screen plays to counter the pass rush by the Rams. This was ineffective as the Bear Cubs were quickly tackled and prevented from making a big play. “I tried to get the ball out early and make plays with my feet,” Froman said.

SRJC received the opening kick and drove the ball downfield deep into Rams territory. The Bear Cubs made a statement early by going for it on a fourth down but were unsuccessful. The Bear Cubs defense held Fresno to a three and out.

Mike Bogdanovich led the way for the SRJC defense with a team high of 15 tackles. Also playing well for the Bear Cubs was Jared Pereira with 13 tackles.

On their second possession, the Bear Cubs were deep in the hole faced with a first and 29, backed up on their own 21-yard line. Froman threw to Jarred Garcia who was wide open for a 69-yard touchdown pass. “The QB (Froman) was sitting on his heels and had time for me to get open,” Garcia said.

Simons is excited about Garcia’s improvement and is looking to use him more in the offense. “He is quick and is getting better every week,” Simons said.

Fresno answered with a score of their own by going downfield on eight plays. They capped the drive with Dontrell Lee by catching a 27-yard touchdown.

It looked like SRJC would finally get its offense going by moving the chains, going 80 yards and scoring on a 27-yard catch to Garcia from the arm of Froman.

Fresno, however, would respond by moving the ball and as a result, the Rams made a 23-yard field goal, pulling within three points of SRJC. That would be the last offense score of the first half as both teams were given another chance, but unable to manufacture any points.

The Bear Cubs were unable to get any running game going–they had 21 attempts for a loss of four yards. Most of the running was done by Froman trying to scramble in the pocket. Jarrell Davis and Brian Hutton combined for just five carries for six yards.

Star wide receiver Reed was a non-factor with only eight catches for 90 yards with no touchdowns. Going into the game Reed was tied for most for most touchdown catches in the state with nine.
“They were paying a lot of attention to Reed and getting double coverage. We are going to see a lot of that from now on,” Simons said.

Brandon Driver was able to start the second half off with bang, returning a 60-yard punt for a touchdown to give the Bear Cubs a 10-point lead.

Not to be outdone, the Rams marched the ball 69 yards and scored on a 25-yard touchdown to John Romeus. Emmanuel Lewis, Fresno’s quarterback, was under the radar most the game. Nevertheless, he was very consistent in going 21 of 38 for 281 yards.

Halfway through the fourth quarter Fresno started at its own 34. The Bear Cub defense was unable to stop the Rams’ offense from converting two fourth-down plays.

The drive consisted of 17 plays and taking six plus minutes off the clock capped by an 11-yard touchdown pass to Lee.

The Bear Cubs, with one last shot to score, were unsuccessful at finding the end zone. The loss is the first of the season for SRJC.

“When we start league next week, that’s when it’s important to win out, this is just a speed bump,” Simons said.

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