Thomas Tutogi (Chula Vista) scored two touchdowns to give host Southwestern College a 16-7 halftime lead but the Jaguars could not hold off a 14-point fourth quarter rally by the College of the Desert Roadrunners, who claimed a 23-16 victory in the Central Conference East Division opener for both teams last Saturday.
Tutogi scored on runs of two and three yards to stake the hosts to a 13-0 first quarter lead and Chris Navarro (Eastlake) later kicked a 42-yard field goal. The Roadrunners cut into the Jags’ lead on a three-yard run by Charles Fortis just before halftime and added a two-point safety in the third quarter to trim the SWC lead to seven points.
Trailing 16-9, COD (3-3 overall) capped the come-from-behind victory on the strength of a pair of touchdown passes from Fortis to Jordan Calhoun in the final quarter. Nathan Krasniak kicked both extra points to leave Southwestern (3-3 overall) a touchdown behind.
The Palm Desert team took the lead for good in the final two minutes of the game.
Tutogi led the hosts with 18 tackles on defense while Victor Perez (Chula Vista) nailed a 74-yard punt.
The Jaguars were coming off a pair of high-scoring victories against Mt. San Jacinto (43-41 in triple overtime on Oct. 2) and San Bernardino Valley (45-42 on Oct. 9).
Arona Tuiafono (Pago Pago/American Samoa) rushed for 191 yards on 18 carries to earn the SWC’s Offensive Player of the Week award for the second week in a row. His 74-yard touchdown midway through the third quarter put the Jags ahead 38-35.
Tuiafono collected 106 yards on 23 carries in the earlier win against Mt. San Jacinto. The 100-yard rushing effort was the first of the season for SWC, which has had to rework its rushing game because of an injury to preseason All-American Aaron Harris (Granite Hills).
“Arona was the workhorse in overtime and put together the key runs in the third overtime to win the game,” Jaguars coach Ed Carberry said.
Tutogi, playing two ways, led the Jags with 17 tackles in the Oct. 2 non-conference win. He scored the game-winning touchdown in the Oct. 9 game on a two-yard run with 8:30 remaining. Sweetwater grad Ramsey Iapala prevented a SBV comeback with an interception with 15 seconds left. Navarro had six PAT conversions and also booted a 52-yard field goal to be named the team’s special teams player of the week.
Southwestern hits the road for an Oct. 23 conference game at Orange Coast College (1-5, 0-1). OCC is coming off a 45-20 loss to Riverside in its conference opener.
