Comets fall short in season finale

ESCONDIDO, CA (11/16/2019) – In their final game of the season, Palomar faced San Diego Mesa College and lost 41-31.

Mesa scored first, but Palomar evened the score on the drive when Isaiah Batton caught a 74-yard pass from Rodney Thompson. Mesa scored again but missed the point after attempt to make the score 13-7. On the next drive, Logan Gamble caught the 4-yard pass from Thompson for the score. Comets took the lead at 14-13. Palomar kicked a field goal before half to extend their lead. Mesa got the next two scores to start the second half to make the score 27-17. Lamar Raboteau had a 30-yard reception from Thompson to close in on the Olympians. Kyran Griffin then caught a 4-yard pass from Thompson to retake the lead. Mesa then scored two more touchdowns for a final score of 41-31.

The Comets totaled 494 offensive yards, of which Thompson threw for 489, a career-high. Palomar recorded five rushing yards. The Comet defense allowed 533 yards, 367 passing and 166 rushing. Giovanni Herrera had two interceptions and David Quintanilla had one.

Thompson was 36-56 on the night with four passing touchdowns. He had 15 carries and ended with -4 rushing yards. Kyran Griffin had 116 receiving yards on eight receptions with a long of 55 yards and one touchdown. Logan Gamble had 95 yards also on eight receptions with a long of 21 yards and one touchdown. Isaiah Batton had 81 yards with a long of 74 yards and the one touchdown. Johnny Armentrout finished the night with 62 yards on six receptions.

Vavega Sialoi ended the night with eight tackles and three tackles-for-loss totaling 13 yards. Chris Calhoun had seven tackles and Sincere Gillion had six with one breakup. Wesley Huizor and Sid Weddington both finished the night with five tackles.  

Thompson finished his career as a Comet with 3035 passing yards in the 11 games he played in. This season he had a completion percentage of 60.4 and threw for 2835 yards. Thompson was also the leading rusher for the Comets this season rushing for a total of 343 yards on 105 carries. In his career he rushed for 390 yards. This season he had 25 touchdowns, four of which were rushing.

Raboteau finished his career as a running back with 186 total yards. This season he had 102 yards on 49 carries and had one touchdown. On the receiving side, Logan Gamble finished his career with 722 yards. This season he had 406 yards and three touchdowns. Johnny Armentrout ends with 1022 yards. He had 785 yards this season and 10 touchdowns.

Herrera ends his career just short of 100 tackles with 99. He had 1.5 sacks in his career and 5.5 tackles-for-loss totaling 31 yards. He had two forced fumbles this season and recovered one. He had two interceptions in his career. Herrera also recorded three breakups. Chris Calhoun ends his Comet career with 136 tackles and two interceptions. He had 3.5 sacks and 20 tackles-for-loss. Kameron Camp finished with 81 tackles and was the leading tackler for the Comets this season with 70 on the season. He recorded two sacks and 8.5 tackles-for-loss this season. Camp also had one forced fumble and a fumble recovery. He also had one interception which he ran back for 22 yards.

The Comets finish their season at 2-9 overall and 0-5. Despite the record, we congratulate the team and wish the sophomores luck in their next ventures.