The Vaquero football team closed its 2003 season with a 29-0 loss to Alan Hancock College on a rainy Saturday evening at La Playa Stadium, finishing with a 3-7 record on the year.

The Hancock Bulldogs amassed 411 total yards of offense and 27 first downs, compared to the Vaqueros 120 yards and six first downs, gaining their ninth consecutive victory over City College.

Most of the Bulldogs’ yards came from their three talented running backs, Lucious Sloan, Michael Santos and Paul Jordan, who combined for 294 total yards of rushing.

The Vaqueros trailed 15-0 at half time, but committed four costly turnovers in the second half, which allowed Hancock to add to its lead and seal the victory.

“Our defense played well considering the situation,” said City College coach Reggie Bolton.

“The turnovers hurt us. Hancock is a very good football team and you can’t expect to turn it over four times and expect to win.”

Hancock finished its regular season with an 8-2 record and is now looking forward to its bowl game.

The Bulldogs controlled the first half with their power running attack and huge offensive line that was able to open holes for the running backs all game long.

They opened the scoring with 2:55 left in the first quarter on a 19-yard run by Sloan, completing a 10-play drive that covered 77 yards.

Sloan finished the game with 122 yards on 21 carries and 1 touchdown. Santos added 98 yards on 19 carries and a 27-yard touchdown run.

With the Vaqueros’ offense unable to find a rhythm, the Bulldogs quickly got the ball back and orchestrated another impressive drive. This time they drove 84 yards and scored on a 20-yard play-action pass from quarterback Chad Nicholson to his 6’4″ tight end Colin Vidal with 7:19 left in the second quarter.

Brian Schneider added a 42-yard field goal before the break to make it 15-0 at the half.

The Vaqueros opened the second half on offense, and after two consecutive completions by quarterback Preston Maloney, Gregg Dutra intercepted a deep Maloney pass intended for his favorite target Herbie Smith.

After another interception by the Bulldogs, they appeared to be headed in for another score when City College’s Cory Sanchez made a pick of his own in the end zone preventing the Hancock score.

Sanchez played a very good game defensively for the Vaqueros, making many tackles, breaking up passes and adding his one interception to keep the Bulldogs form scoring.

The fourth quarter opened with another impressive drive by the Bulldogs, capped by a 27-yard run by Santos, who ran over two defenders to go with some shifty moves on his way into the end zone.

Jordan added a one-yard plunge for the Bulldogs to conclude the scoring at 29-0.

The time of possession stats for the game were entirely in favor of Hancock and displayed how they controlled the game with their consuming running attack. The Bulldogs had the ball for 44:49 compared to just 15:11 for the Vaqueros.

The Vaquero defense spent so much time on the field, and appeared fatigued and unable to stop the ground attack of Hancock.