The battle of the Vaqueros belonged solely to Glendale coming in and handling City College who played its final game of the 2015 season.

Glendale toppled City College 47-14 to hold sole possession of second place in the conference  advancing to a bowl game.

In a must-win-game for both teams, City College couldn’t handle the offensive attack from Glendale who ended the game totaling 429 yards of offense. Those yards produced 47 points for the visitors ending any hope for a City College post-season bowl appearance.

“(Glendale) deserved to win,” said head coach Craig Moropoulos. “They converted on our turnovers so you’ve got to give them credit.”

In the first half Glendale set the tone marching down on their first possession and scoring on the goal line on a one yard rush by Marquise McGuire (No. 22). The momentum continued on in the first half with four more scores from the visiting Vaqueros.

City College’s only score of the first half came on a 32-yard touchdown catch by Elijah King (No.12) from Brandon Edwards (No. 8) growing the quarterbacks season touchdown passing total to 17.

Going into the locker room, a display of dominance by Glendale was shown in the statistics almost doubling City College’s yards in the first half. The quarterback of the visiting Vaqueros, Sean Murphy was a perfect ten-for-ten in the first, connecting with William Fennessy five different times in route to a 95 yard first-half performance from the sophomore receiver.

A key missed opportunity came in the second quarter when Edwards drove the red and black down to mid field, only to throw an interception into the hands of Kev’n Farmer, who took it the other way 63-yards for Glendale’s 20th interception of the season.

The 14-point-swing kept City College out of a one score game situation and instead multiplied it into a three score ballgame.

“We got behind, and it kind of changes the way you handle (your play calling and decisions),” said Moropoulos. “We just weren’t up to the task today.”

Coming out of the locker room in the second half of play, Glendale didn’t skip a beat. Taking advantage of turnovers by City College, picking up four fumbles lost, Glendale kept the pressure and upper hand the rest of the way. Forcing City College to seven punts compared to just three in the first, the offense was having trouble staying on the field in the second half.

The defense for City College stepped up in half number two led by safety Jacob Girgle (No. 2) who finished his last game of his sophomore college career with 17 tackles on the day.

“Gotta give it to Glendale,” said Girgle. “They just came and pounded us. We had seven straight three and outs (in the second half)… but it just wasn’t enough. It’s tough to swallow.”

So back-to-back 7-3 seasons is Coach Moropoulos’ Vaqueros who have made a big change the last two seasons to contribute to their impressive records. A young team housing 57 freshman will return next year with possibly the only thing that was missing from this year’s team—experience.

“We do have a lot of freshman. And it should transfer to a heavy sophomore team next year.” Moropoulos noted.

This loss to end their season will prove to be a lesson learned, where next season the team looks to make their first bowl game in 19 years.

“They exceeded my expectations (this season),” said Moropoulos. “We knew we were young. We beat some good teams. And so that’s what we’re going to focus on. That’s what we are going to build on.”

The eight-year coach will begin the 2015 season next week, getting his young team back into the weight room. Looking back on a season that started out slow, a seven game win streak speaks volumes about the heart of this young team from a coach’s standpoint, as well as the players.

“I’m proud to call these boys my brothers,” said Girgle.

The team battled injuries all season long, and many players were ready for their opportunity to step up.

When asked on what to say to a team after such a hard loss at home to end the season and any chance of a bowl game, Moropoulos was brief.

“Just that I love them, I’m proud of them.”

The notable players on both sides of the ball include freshman Brandon Edwards who finished the season with just over 1800 (1805) yards through the air and 17 touchdowns. Two more scores added to his resume came on a run and also a rare receiving touchdown week four against West LA bringing his season and career total to 19.

On the defensive side, Girgle lead all defenders with 60 total tackles on the season, along with three interceptions.

Cedric Cooper (No. 9) led the offensive specialists with an all-purpose yard tally of 885, averaging 88.5 yards per game. He too will be back with his quarterback Brandon Edwards, as well as second leading rusher Cheroke Cunningham (No. 13) and leading receiver Elijah King.

So the future looks bright for the program finishing 7-3, as more recruits will file in next season and the team will be a majority second year players. They say third time is a charm, and with their third opportunity in a row for a winning season coming next year, these tough games will hopefully prove to be beneficial for City College.