Antelope Valley Escapes With Tie Against Chaffey

It was not a victory, but Antelope Valley College escaped its first major test of the junior college football season with a 24-24 tie against Chaffey in a Foothill Conference game at Antelope Valley on Saturday night.

William Shupp’s 46-yard field-goal attempt was wide left for Chaffey as time expired, permitting Antelope Valley (3-0-1, 1-0-1 in conference play) to remain undefeated.

The Marauders, who won their first three games against teams with a combined record of 0-9, had a controversial play go against them with less than four minutes remaining and the score tied, 24-24.

Antelope Valley punted and Chaffey’s Sean Fenison appeared to touch the ball, but an official overruled the initial call and gave Chaffey possession at its 24.

From there, both teams played conservatively, apparently content to settle for a tie rather than make a mistake going for a win.

Jason Camp’s 33-yard field goal gave the Marauders a 24-17 lead with eight minutes 57 seconds left, but Chaffey promptly marched 80 yards in six plays on the ensuing drive to tie the score at 24 on a 24-yard pass from Gary Goodwin to John Howard.

Howard, a 6-foot-3 sophomore wide receiver, beat defensive back John Johnson, but it might have been the only thing Johnson did wrong against Chaffey (2-1-1, 1-0-1). Johnson intercepted two passes and broke up several others.

Trailing, 10-7, at halftime, Antelope Valley exploded for two touchdowns within a 63-second span in the third quarter to take a 21-10 lead.

Birk Sopsher gave the Marauders a 14-10 lead when he returned a punt 90 yards down the left sideline for a touchdown with 11:35 left in the third period.

Then Johnson intercepted his second pass and returned it 26 yards to the Chaffey 14-yard line.

Two plays later, Steve Miller scored on a 10-yard run to give Antelope Valley a 21-10 lead.

Goodwin, who completed only four of 13 passes for 29 yards in the first half, began to heat up after Miller’s touchdown.

On Chaffey’s next possession, Goodwin led the Panthers on a 73-yard, seven-play drive that was aided by a double-personal-foul penalty against Antelope Valley.