Comets stung by Hornets in conference loss
YORBA LINDA, CA (10/26/2019) – Palomar faced Fullerton College in their second conference matchup and lost 55-42.
The Comets ran into trouble early when the Hornets ran back the kickoff for a touchdown and then the Hornets went 68 yards for another score after the Comets punted the ball away. The Palomar offense got something working on their second drive when Rodney Thompson threw a 52-yard pass to Johnny Armentrout for six. Mark Meader nailed the point after attempt and the Comets were behind 14-7. Fullerton got into the endzone one more time before the first quarter ended.
The Comets were able to put up seven more points after Thompson kept the ball himself and scored on a 2-yard run. Fullerton went down and scored again to keep the Hornets up by 14 points. On Palomar's next drive, they were marching down the field for another score when Thompson's pass was intercepted and ran back for a touchdown. At halftime, Palomar was down 35-14.
Palomar was able to outscore Fullerton in the third quarter by one point. Lamar Raboteau scored on a 19-yard pass from Thompson to make the score 38-21. The Comet defense was able to hold the Hornets to two field goals in the third. The Palomar scoring spree began in the fourth quarter when Logan Gamble caught a 24-yard touchdown pass one-handed, we might add, from Thompson to make the score 48-28 in favor of the Hornets. Armentrout then had a wide-open 28-yard pass from Thompson to make it 48-35. The Hornets went down and scored one more time. The Comets weren't done yet, however. With a new quarterback, Shea Morales who hasn't played since the Southwestern game, the Comets ran eight plays and drove 45 yards for a 5-yard pass from Morales to Dennis Garrison. The Comets then tried an onside kick but failed. Final score: 55-42 Hornets.
Thompson threw for 344 yards was 29-44 with four touchdown passes. Morales was 2-5 and had 22 yards with one touchdown. Damon Wigand was the leading rusher with 38 yards on nine carries. Thompson had 24 rushing yards on 10 carries and one touchdown. Morales had 20 rushing yards. Armentrout had 183 receiving yards on 11 receptions with two touchdowns. Kyran Griffin had 63 yards on seven receptions. Gamble had 39 yards on three receptions with one touchdown.
Punter Preston Dennard had four punts totaling 160 yards and a long of 42. He averaged 40 yards and pinned three inside the 20-yard line. Mark Meader handled the point after attempts and stayed perfect on the season going 6-6. Meader also does the kickoff duty and on five kickoffs recorded 266 yards with an average of 53.2 yards.
Defensively, Chris Calhoun led the Comets with 10 total tackles on the day. He had a half tackle-for-loss for three yards. Vavega Sialoi had nine total tackles, one sack for five yards and three tackles-for-loss totaling 12 yards. Kevin McKinzie had seven tackles and one interception for the Comets that he ran back for 20 yards. Yusuf Leigh had three tackles, one sack for six yards and one tackle-for-loss for six yards. Emmit Vaiese also had three tackles, two sacks for 12 yards and two tackles-for-loss totaling 12 yards.
As a team, Palomar had 449 total offensive yards, 83 of those rushing yards averaging 2.8 yards. They had 366 passing yards for an average of 7.5 yards. The Comets tan 79 offensive plays. The defense allowed 538 offensive yards, 188 passing and 350 rushing. The Comets racked up four sacks, after not having one last week, and nine tackles-for-loss totaling 43 yards.
The Comets fall to 2-5 overall and 0-2 in conference play. They will face El Camino College at home on Saturday, Nov. 2 at 6 p.m.