MCAGCC, Twentynine Palms, Calif. -- The Camp Pendleton team, MAG-39, defeated MCAGCC Twentynine Palms 19-16 in part two the Best of the West competition at Felix Field Nov. 23.
MAG-39's defense had 165 yards in penalties and still shut the Twentynine Palms offense out for the first three quarters of the game.
"We dominated the ball in time of possession and field position for the first half and completely took everything away from Twentynine Palms' offense," said MAG-39 coach James Shepard. "Our offensive line dominated the 4-4 defense that was instituted to stop our running game. They played the run and still could not stop our guys."
MAG-39 succeeded in holding Twentynine Palms back from scoring until the fourth quarter when Twentynine Palms kicked it into high gear and their two-point score turned into 16 points with about two minutes remaining on the clock.
The score was 19-16 and MAG-39 chose to use their time outs and hold the ball until time ran out and secured their victory.
MAG-39 now has a chance to win the Best of the West competition by playing Hawaii in part three of the dramatic football trilogy.
"Our game against Hawaii will be much of the same, smash-mouth offense and ball control; defensively we will bring the house and make them throw the ball," said Shepard.
Team MAG-39 will have several disadvantage this upcoming game in addition to the absence of their back-up quarterback and coach.
"Prior to this upcoming game, we have seen every team before we played them and had a game plan based on their skill level and exploited those areas," said Shepard. "But we know nothing about this team and do not know their strengths or weaknesses.
"We will rely on our practice to set up a flow for the game and to execute a game plan. Our size on both ends of the ball should be the deciding factor in the outcome of the game," said Shepard.
MAG-39 plays Hawaii for the first place trophy Dec. 7 at 10 a.m. at Felix Field.