It’s a four-hour drive from San Bernardino to Santa Maria’s Allan Hancock College.

It took the San Bernardino Valley College football team another 20 minutes of game time to get their legs under them against the Bulldogs.

Down 16-3 in the second quarter, the Wolverines scored the next 21 points and their defense shut the door on the Hancock offense as San Bernardino won 24-18 to go into its bye week with a 3-2 record.

The comeback started after the Wolverines were forced to punt. Dominic Young’s kick was fumbled by Hancock’s Mystikal Wilson and recovered at the Bulldog 40 by Elijah Smith. Two plays later, Armando Herrera found Brian Boyd Jr. for a 37-yard score. Humberto Ramirez’s kick made it 16-10.

After being stopped at the Hancock 1-yard-line on their next possession, the Wolverines’ defense forced a three-and-out possession, allowing the Bulldogs only 1 yard, forcing them to punt from their own end zone.

With good field position from the Hancock 44, it took the Wolverines five plays and 40 seconds to get into the end zone, as Herrera hooked up with Kellen Pachot to give San Bernardino Valley a 17-16 lead at the half.

San Bernardino Valley’s offense picked up where it left off in the third quarter, as Herrera and Pachot hooked up again, this time for a 4-yard score, giving the Wolverines a 24-16 lead.

From there, it was the Wolverines’ defense doing the job. They limited the Bulldogs to only 86 yards of total offense in the second half and intercepting quarterback Jimmy Kelleher three times in the final 30 minutes.

The Wolverines will now have a week off before returning to action Oct. 14 in their conference opener against San Diego Mesa at SBVC Stadium.