Albright and Autry Lead Bulldogs to 48-17 Rout of Santa Ana

Sophomore quarterback Matt Albright threw four touchdown passes and Shaq Autry scored two rushing touchdowns to lead the Allan Hancock College football team to a 48-17 win over Santa Ana Saturday at Hancock Football Field. The Bulldogs earned their first win of the year to improve to 1-3. Santa Ana dropped to 0-4. 

After allowing an early touchdown, the Bulldogs marched 65 yards on nine plays to get on the board midway through the first quarter. Albright found a wide-open Kelvin Marion for a 32-yard touchdown strike. The extra-point attempt failed, and the Bulldogs trailed 7-6 with 8:52 to play in the opening quarter. Santa Ana scored again on a one-yard run by Deven Boston to take a 14-6 lead with 4:44 in the first. From that point on, the Bulldogs closed out the first half on a 23-0 run.

Autry broke free on a run up the middle and sprinted 69 yards for a touchdown. The sophomore running back had missed the last two games with a shoulder injury. Albright hit Jajuan Lankford on the two-point conversion to tie the game at 14-14 with 3:14 left in the first quarter.

The Bulldogs took the lead for good halfway through the second quarter when Albright hit a wide-open Ben Rantz. The freshman tight end powered his way the final few yards into the endzone with a Santa Ana defender trying to take him down. After a successful two-point conversion, Hancock took the lead for good 22-14 with 7:12 left in the half. The Bulldog defense forced a Santa Ana punt, and the offense responded. On fourth down, Albright found Chris Barganier in the corner of the endzone and the sophomore receiver jumped out and came down with the ball. After the two-point conversion, Hancock carried a 30-14 lead into halftime.

Santa Ana stopped Hancock's 23-0 run with a 23-yard field goal in the third quarter to climb to within 30-17. Hancock's offense responded with a three-yard touchdown run by Autry, his second of the game to take a 36-17 lead. On Santa Ana's ensuing drive, sophomore defensive lineman Davon Perry sacked quarterback Conner Miller, who lost the ball. Freshman Osa Omokaro recovered the fumble at the Santa Ana one-yard line. Hancock cashed in the turnover with a one-yard run up the middle by Lankford and led 42-17.

Hancock opened the fourth quarter with a bang as Albright hit a streaking Marion in the endzone for a 48-yard touchdown to make it 48-17 Bulldogs. It was the sophomore Marion's second touchdown reception of the game, the first two of his Hancock career. The 48-yard score was also Albright's fourth touchdown pass of the game. The Nipomo High School graduate became the first Hancock quarterback to throw four touchdown passes in a game since Brandon Jeffries in September 2012.

Albright completed 19 of his 24 passes for a career-high 232 passing yards.

Autry finished with 101 yards on 10 carries and two touchdowns. Lankford compiled 36 yards on 10 carries and one score, while Paul Lorick had 34 yards rushing on 10 carries. The Bulldogs finished with 222 rushing yards and 454 yards of total offense.

Santa Ana finished with 353 yards of total offense. Miller completed 17 of his 32 passes for 290 yards. Kameron Taylor led Santa Ana with five catches for 123 yards.

Thomas Leggett led the Hancock defense with seven tackles, including one for a loss. Connor Epley and Easton Coy had five stops apiece. Lenny Roundtree and Xavier Dooley each intercepted a pass. Dooley returned his 54 yards.

The Bulldogs will play next Saturday, October 1, at San Bernardino Valley. Kickoff with the Wolverines will be at 4 p.m. It will be the first meeting between Hancock and San Bernardino since 1999. The all-time series is 2-2.