Palm Desert - Roadrunners provided a lot of excitement for their fans at Boone Field Saturday night. Antelope Valley brought their 2-1 record and 5th ranking in the Southern California American Division to College of the Desert where Desert, 9th ranked in SC American Division, were waiting for them. What looked to be a very competitive game on paper proved to be just that as the Roadrunners outlasted AVC 41-35 on a 31 yard touchdown strike to Myles Goulbourne with just 12 ticks left on the clock.

Both teams exchanged touchdowns in the first quarter. Antelope got on the board first as quarterback Blake Shepherd found Donte Ross on a 35 yard play to put the Marauders up 7-0. Desert went on a 10 play 66 yard drive later in the quarter and Robbie Polimeni punched it in from 3 yards out to even the score. 

Antelope then scored 2 touchdowns in the first 1:30 of the second quarter as Shepherd found Ross again for 60 yards followed by an Adam Suruy 45 yard interception return. AVC was threatening to pull away, but COD managed 2 long scoring drives in the quarter to pull even at half. The first drive was 10 plays for 73 yards capped off by a Kamone Best 23 yard scamper. Desert followed that up with a 9 play 72 yard drive that ended with quarterback De'Abrie Smith finding Trevon Williams on a seven yard strike. 

As the teams came out for the third the Roadrunner faithful felt optimistic. Desert had taken AVC's punch and had fought back. Antelope quickly silenced the crowd again as Blake Verrett returned the opening Kickoff of the second half 94 yards to quickly put the Marauders back on top. After a couple stalled drives by both teams, the Roadrunner Defense provided a spark as they stripped the ball and Ethan Skarmas recovered a fumble on the AVC five yard line. Two play later the game was tied again as Anthony Ellison found the end zone from 5 yards out. 

The first 12 minutes of the final quarter saw both teams battle, but both defenses kept their offensive counterparts out of the end zone. That is until Smith's 2 yard run capped off a 10 play 68 yard drive that put the Roadrunners up for the first time in the game 34-28. AVC quarterback was poised and marched his team down field on a 9 play 50 yard drive that ended with Shepherd finding the end zone on a 7 yard designed quarterback keep. 

That score appeared to be the game winner with :33 left on the clock and a lot of green grass between the Roadrunners and the end zone. The Roadrunners would not be denied though. Reginald Macon took the kick off 50 yards into AVC territory. To quick outs from Smith to Goulbourne picked up 14 yards and stopped the clock. That is when Goulbourne found man to man coverage on him and ran a route straight to the end zone. Smith delivered a perfect strike that won the game for the home team. 

Smith finished 32-54 for 310 yards and 2 touchdowns and an interception. Macon had 9 receptions for 99 yards. Goulbourne and Williams each hauled in 8 passes and both found the end zone. Ellison finished the game with 58 yards on the ground. Corey Dalton led the defensive effort with 2 interceptions and 5 tackles. Unsung hero for the night was kicker/punter Alex Duarte. Duarte converted 5/6 extra points. He also had an amazing night punting the ball. He had 9 punts for an average of 41.6 yards per punt and pinned the Marauders inside the 20 four times.

The Roadrunners even their record at 2-2. AVC drops to 2-2. Desert is back on the road next week as the take on Santa Barbara CC at 4PM.