No. 3 Rustlers suffer first loss, fall 22-7 to No. 8 San Diego Mesa

HUNTINGTON BEACH – The momentum from last week's huge win by Golden West College over defending state champion Riverside City College couldn't carry over as the No. 3 state-ranked Rustlers were defeated by No. 8 San Diego Mesa College 22-7 on Saturday at Rustler Stadium.

The GWC offense never really got going as the Olympians limited the Rustlers to 247 yards and intercepted a pair of passes.

Golden West fell behind 14-0 before scoring on its final drive of the second quarter. Quarterback Will Burns led the Rustlers on a 12-play, 80-yard drive the ended with a 20-yard touchdown pass to Noah Burdick. GWC cut the San Diego Mesa lead in half and went into the break down 14-7.

The Rustlers defense played solid in the second half, holding the Olympians to a pair of field goals. But Golden West second-half offensive drives all stalled and Burns was sacked in the end zone for a safety.

Burns had a tough game after leading GWC to the upset victory over former top-ranked Riverside last week. He completed 19 of 33 passes for 138 yards with a touchdown and 2 interceptions. Burns led the Rustlers on the ground with 46 yards on 11 carries.

Burdick caught 4 passes for 55 yards and a TD while Robert Sarmiento had 6 receptions for 47 yards.

Quincy Hankins had an impressive game on defense for the Rustlers with 6 tackles, a forced fumble and recovery, as well as an interception near the Golden West goal line that halted a likely San Diego Mesa scoring drive.

Christian Petero led the Rustlers with 7 tackles and Manaia Ala added 6 tackles.

Golden West, now 2-1 overall, heads to East Los Angeles College next Saturday (Sep. 28) to open National Central Division play. Kick off is set for 6 p.m. at Weingart Stadium in Monterey Park.