Comets face first road challenge in Southwestern

CHULA VISTA, CA (9/14/2019) – In their first road test of the season, Palomar lost to Southwestern College 28-24.

Palomar came out strong in their first drive going 83 yards for a touchdown, which was a 5-yard pass from quarterback Rodney Thompson to Kyran Griffin. Southwestern came back on their second drive to even the score on a 53-yard run by their quarterback.

In the second quarter, Palomar settled for a field goal after going 64-yards in 14 plays to make the score 10-7 with 2:35 left in the half. Southwestern answered with a 21-yard touchdown pass to take the lead with a little over a minute to go.

In the third quarter, Southwestern had another touchdown and a blocked punt return for a touchdown. They led 28-10 with 6:48 left in the quarter. On the very next play, quarterback Shea Morales found Johnny Armentrout for a 72-yard touchdown pass. 28-17 with 6:27 to go in the third. Following Palomar's touchdown, Southwestern was threatening to score again. On Palomar's 28-yard line, their quarterback threw the ball right at defensive back Jay Craft who ran it back for a 78-yard pick-six. Palomar trailed by the four the remainder of the game.

Palomar had 391 total offensive yards on 79 plays, 242 passing and 149 rushing. Morales was 15-35 throwing for 188 yards and one touchdown pass. Thompson was 7-16 and threw for 81 yards. Armentrout had four receptions for 89 yards. Jeremiah Ruger had 47 receiving yards on three receptions. Griffin had 45 yards on six receptions. Isaiah Batton had two receptions for 44 yards.

Running back Tywayne Reed Jr. had 53 rushing yards on nine carries. Morales had 39 rushing yards on six carries and Thompson had 32 rushing yards on 3 carries. Running back Damon Wigand had six carries for 22 yards.

Punter Preston Dennard had four punts going for 137 yards and pinned two balls inside the 20-yard line.

The Comets gave up 291 total yards, including 123 passing yards and 168 rushing yards. Kameron Camp led the team in tackles with 10 total and had one tackle for loss. Tommy Woo had one tackle for a loss of three yards and five total tackles. Tyrus Hodgins also had a tackle for loss resulting in an eight-yard loss. Collectively, the team had 47 tackles and six tackles for loss resulting in a loss of 17 yards.

Palomar falls to 1-1 and will be on the road again to face Citrus College next Saturday at 1 p.m.