Despite behind the scenes tension for football, the Brahmas came out of their dry streak to catch their first win of the season, beating College of the Desert.
In their last non-conference game, Pierce beat the Roadrunners 31-14.
Head Coach Carlos Woods was proud of his players winning.
“We had some close games early on in the season, but our guys didn’t give up,” Woods said. “We have a resilient bunch, I’m very proud of them. It keeps us in the driver’s seat.”
Woods said that they have to be careful when it comes to the flags.
“It’s an emotional sport. It comes with the guys knowing on Monday to take care of penalties.” Woods said.
Brahmas didn’t begin the game well as they fumbled the ball early on. It didn’t affect them, as they took the lead for the first time this season through quarterback Andrew Young.
Defensively they showed vast improvement as they prevented the Roadrunners from getting the first down on multiple occasions.
Pierce were on a fourth down predicament in parts of the game, but David McCullum and Brandon Brock ensured that they had a new set of downs.
With 2:31 left in the quarter, Bryan Walker doubled the Brahmas lead.
At the start of the second, Roadrunners got back into it as De’jion Martin made it a seven point game.
Desert would tie the game through Trey-Quan Mathis. Pierce would have the chance to regain the lead, but the field goal attempt was no good.
Towards the end of the half, a bad snap from COD on fourth down allowed the team to take over at their 40-yard line. Young would go on to score on the next play giving Pierce a 21-14 lead.
Brahmas could have made it a 14-point game, however McCullum was short of the end zone.
In the second half, it was all Brahmas. Brock scored on a pass from McCullum to make it 28-14. A field goal extended their lead by 17 points.
In the final minutes the defense stepped up. Dante Witcher Jr. and Jalen Burton got big interceptions to secure the win.
Burton said his interception was all about luck and skill.
“I was so happy. My stats were kind of low from last season. I needed a big play for my highlights,” Burton said.
Young said he was happy for his teammates.
“I feel like we have grown a lot as a team because we have a lot of diversity. We came together and proved what we could do as a team,” Young said.
Young said he is more of a player to stay in the pocket, but will get out of the comfort zone when he needs to.
Pierce improves their record to 1-4, while Desert drops to 1-3.
Brahmas have a bye week and will be back on the road on Saturday, Oct. 19 at Santa Barbara. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.
