The Vaqueros’ second-ranked defense couldn’t keep Antelope Valley out of the end zone late in game Friday as the Marauders plundered a win from City College, 20-13.

City College came out fast at La Playa Stadium and amassed a 13-0 lead with 10 minutes left in the third quarter. But Antelope Valley took advantage of Vaquero mistakes and scored 20 unanswered points to win.

“We were there; we had our foots on their throats,” sophomore safety Mitch Nelson said. “We just didn’t pull the trigger—and let them get back into it.

“We had opportunities to score. We just got to finish.”

Nelson and the rest of the defense allowed the Marauders into Vaquero territory once in the first half. In the second half, Antelope Valley quarterback Derrick Dison slipped by for a rushing touchdown and added two more through the air, finding Mike Williams and  Zikerious Ware in the endzone to overtake City College.

“They just got a couple broken plays on us, we had them contained all three quarters and they just finally found something that was working,” Nelson said.

Kevin Denis scored the lone touchdown for the Vaqueros on a 3-yard run at 8:44 in the first quarter and tallied 59 yards on the ground. Marcus Hoerberg booted a couple field goals through the uprights to end City College scoring.

The Vaqueros had their chances near the end of the game but couldn’t close on them.

“It’s frustrating when you don’t capitalize on the plays at the end,” said head coach Craig Moropoulos.  “With the bad snap on the punt, you just got to get after that.”

With 9:27 left in the fourth quarter, the Vaqueros were driving swiftly down field and gaining momentum before freshman running back Kyle Brown lost a fumble near the sideline on the Marauder 35 yard line.

“We had just gotten the ball and we were all fired up and the momentum was about to change and we just didn’t get it done,” said Moropoulos.

Moropoulos said he was proud of his team for putting it out on the field but added that they need to cut down the mistakes.

“We made a lot of mistakes; we just got to cut those down,” Moropoulos said. “We moved the ball up and down the field and just found a way to make a mistake and that’s youth, but youth is getting old really quick.”

The Vaqueros face another tough test next week as they host L.A. Pierce at 7 p.m. Friday at La Playa Stadium.