The Los Medanos College football team has a very young roster, and the first half of their season opener showed that. 

 But despite the rocky start, LMC kicked off the year with a 22-7 victory over Gavilan college.

Right from the beginning, LMC looked like a deer in headlights, especially quarterback Tim Evitt who struggled to hit his targets, throwing three interceptions in the first half. One of them resulted in a Noah Muñoz pick six which lead Gavilan to get in the board 7-0 early in the first quarter.

 “It’s hard to say whether it was those first game jitters or just trying to force stuff that wasn’t there in an effort to make a play,” Evitt said. “That normally isn’t me I’m usually very careful with the football, that one game will not define how our passing game is going to be throughout the season.”

 In a matter of moments there was a moment shift for LMC. Demone Dorsey got the Mustangs on the board with a 13 yard rushing touchdown. In the next drive, the defense produced a score as Heamasi Latu intercepted the ball and took it back to the house to give LMC the 14-7 lead heading into halftime.

 Z’andre Givens added insurance by scoring on a three yard run in the third quarter. But the second half showed the dominance of the Mustang defense.

 The Mustangs added more to the scoreboard when Gavilan quarterback John Bell was caught sleeping on a snap which resulted in a chase down the field, and an LMC safety by Tre Pierce, resulting in a final score of 22-7.

 Overall, LMC’s defense made Gavilan’s rushing game look like weather in Alaska with keeping them 10 yards below zero.

 LMC also maintained the aerial attack low, with interceptions by Nik Filardo, Brooklyn Hardiman, Damani McGee and of course Latu’s pick six.

 Filardo also had two sacks on the night in his junior college debut.

 “Our defensive line and linebackers kept putting pressure on the quarterback giving the secondary an opportunity to get some interceptions,” head coach Chris Shipe said. “You don’t want them to sit back and let them take the short stuff, you gotta attack the quarterback.”

 The shaky start certainly was not noticeable with the way the Mustangs performed in the second half.

 “We were down early with the 7-0 deficit with a young team, that could suck you a little bit.”  Shipe said. “It’s a four quarter game, our players came back. We’re happy with the win but definitely have to fix some mistakes.”