Turnovers doom Hancock in loss to Canyons

With the Hancock College football team inches away from the go-ahead touchdown against College of the Canyons Saturday, Hancock quarterback A.J.

Vele fumbled the ball on a sneak on the first play of the fourth quarter.

The Cougars recovered, Da'Marrie Smith broke a 35-yard touchdown run for an insurance touchdown, the last of his three TDs on the day and the last TD of the game, and Canyons came away with a 21-10 Northern League win at Hancock.

The Cougars (5-2, 3-1) sent the Bulldogs (3-4, 1-3) to their second straight loss.

The Bulldogs earned a three-way share of the league title with Canyons and Ventura in 2022 and shared the league championship with Ventura last year.

The loss Saturday put Hancock all but out of the running for a share of the 2024 league title.

The Vele fumble was one of five turnovers the Bulldogs suffered Saturday, three lost fumbles and two interceptions.

The Cougars had no turnovers.

"We had (Canyons) on the ropes," Hancock coach Ricky Aguilar said.

"You have to take advantages of your opportunities, and can't turn the ball over like that against a good team like Canyons.

They'll take advantage." After the Smith touchdown, Canyons linebacker Cain Omohundro intercepted Vele on two consecutive Hancock possessions.

Omohundro made a diving catch at the Hancock 22 of a tipped pass for the last pick.

Hancock wide receiver Makai Puga returned the opening kickoff 88 yards to the Canyons 8.

That was about it for the fireworks the Bulldogs generated when they touched the ball.

The Bulldogs went backward after the big Puga return and settled for a 27-yard Chris Sapey field goal.

Smith's big day was more than enough for Canyons.

After the Sapey field goal, a wide open Smith made a nice route adjustment to haul in a 24-yard touchdown pass from Brady Welch near the back of the Hancock end zone in the first quarter and turned a pass from Luke Coleman into a 75-yard touchdown play in the second.

After Hancock trailed 14-3 at halftime, Salofi Leasiolagi seized the momentum for the Bulldogs when he blocked a Cougars punt at the Canyons 34 on the first possession of the second half.

Vele capped the subsequent drive with a touchdown on a one-yard sneak, and Hancock kept the upper hand until the Vele fumble in the fourth quarter.

Canyons starting quarterback Logan Scarlett was knocked out of the game with an injury early in the first half.

The Cougars were down to their third quarterback, Coleman, when Welch was knocked out of the game shortly after throwing the touchdown pass to Smith early in the second quarter.

The Canyons defense made sure the Cougars won by double digits anyway.

Canyons held Hancock to 182 yards of offense.

The Bulldogs had 35 yards of offense at halftime.

The Cougars kept the tough Bulldogs running game to an average of 3.3 yards a carry.

Canyons, which averaged just two yards a rush coming in, mustered 5.3 yards a rush Saturday.

The Cougars' Donovan Dunn was the leading rusher with 73 yards on 15 carries.

Canyons kept Hancock sophomore Caden Harris, one of the top backs in the state, to 65 yards on 22 carries.

Smith easily had the most gaudy offensive stats on the day, with five receptions for 115 yards, and the three touchdowns.

Aguilar seemed confident his team will re-group.

"We just take it game by game, try to go 1-0 every game," he said.

"I'm proud of my guys for the way they hung in today." Hancock will play a league game at county rival Santa Barbara this Saturday at 6 p.m..

This article has been shared from the original article on santamariatimes, here is the link to the original article.