Coming into Saturday night's game, the San Bernardino Valley College football team knew it would have its hands full with Riverside City College, one of the top teams in the state.
And it didn't take long for the Tigers to prove that point.
Tyler Kennedy took the opening kickoff 94 yards for a touchdown, setting off a wild first quarter that saw the teams combine for 56 points as the Tigers ended up blowing the game open in the second quarter en route to a 77-35 victory over San Bernardino Valley at SBVC Stadium.
After the Tigers took a 14-0 lead less than five minutes into the game, the Wolverines got back into the game with a pair of big plays. Jeffrey Proctor took the Tigers' kickoff just inside his own end zone and found a seam, taking the ball into the end zone for a 100 yard kickoff return. Dominic Young's kick made it 14-7.
The Wolverines defense forced the Tigers to punt on the next possession, and the ball came to rest on the SBVC 2-yard-line. That didn't matter to SBVC, as Armando Herrera found Elijah Smith streaking up the middle and he hit him with a pass. Smith did the rest and the game was tied 9:32 into the game.
But a pair of penalties on the ensuing kickoff put the Wolverines on their heels, giving Riverside the ball at the SBVC 40-yard-line. It took four plays for the Tigers to take the lead back for good. Then Christian Swint stepped in front of a Herrera pass for a pick 6, and the Tigers were up 28-14.
In the end, both offenses put up numbers. Riverside racked up 554 total yards of offense, while SBVC ended with 426 of its own. Riverside quarterback Stone Smartt was 15-for-17 for 290 yards and four touchdowns. Herrera threw three touchdowns on 18-of-32 passing for 387 yards. He also had three interceptions.
The Wolverines also set a couple of school records in the game. Proctor's kickoff return is the first recorded 100-yard kickoff return in school history. And the 98-yard pass play between Herrera and Smith became the longest touchdown pass in school history, besting a 94-yard score in 1980 from Pat Hafley to Dan Robinzine.
SBVC will return to American Conference play Saturday night against Los Angeles Southwest. The game will be at 6 p.m. at SBVC Stadium.
