Canyons Closes Out Season 17-10 Over Bakersfield

By Jesse Muñoz/COC Sports Information Director 

College of the Canyons closed out its 2025 campaign with a 17-10 victory over Bakersfield College at Cougar Stadium on Saturday.

The victory was the third across the Cougars' final four games with the lone loss coming on the road at No. 1 Golden West College in week nine.

Canyons (4-6, 4-3) built a 10-0 lead before halftime which is where things stayed until a frenzied fourth quarter of action that came down to the final seconds. 

That's when COC defensive back Kadin McCoy effectively ended the game with an interception of Renegades' quarterback Malachi Statler in the end zone, leaving just a few ticks left on the clock.

The Cougars scored first at 3-0 on Justin Assadi's 29-yard field goal attempt at the 10:24 mark of the first quarter. The scoring sequence was set up by a 64-yard reception by Jared Mims on the first offensive snap of the game.

Coincidently, it was on the first play of the second quarter that Canyons quarterback Jazel Riley IV found Mims again, this time for a 20-yard touchdown grab that capped a 13-play, 92-yard scoring drive from Riley and company. Mims' touchdown put things at 10-0 after Assadi's PAT.

Mims led all receivers in the game with five catches for 128 yards and a touchdown.

That's where things remained until Bakersfield (4-6, 2-5) managed to score twice in the final quarter to tie the game at 10-10 with 6:34 to go in the contest.

The Renegades used a 13-yard touchdown scamper from running back Ja'Daniel Nettles to net their first points of the game early in the fourth quarter.

Nettles had an effective outing with 140 rushing yards on 22 carries.

Following a quick three-and-out from the Cougars, Bakersfield took over on the COC 45-yard line and got close enough to convert on a 27-yard field goal from Karter Kolesar that tied the game at 10-10.

On its next drive, COC was aided by a pair of costly Bakersfield penalties before running back Paul Kamdem came through with a 25-yard touchdown reception from Riley to move the Cougars back ahead for good at 17-10, following Assadi's second PAT of the game.

Riley finished the game 12-of-21 for 183 yards and two touchdowns. He also rushed for 48 yards on 10 carries in the game. 

Kamdem hauled in three catches for 25 yards with the touchdown and netted 20 yards on his single rush attempt.

Isaiah Rameau led the Cougars with 59 rushing yards on 13 attempts, including a long gain of 15 yards.

Bakersfield won the time of possession battle and ran 25 more offensive plays than the Cougars but were never able to fully cash in a Cougars' defense that finished with three key sacks, six tackles for loss, four pass break ups and the key end zone interception.

The Renegades were also charged with more than 100 yards of penalties.

Seifanga Langi was the team leader in tackles for the Cougars with seven total stops. 

Charles Milner recorded four tackles and a sack to bring his season total to 5.5. Miner finished the year by recording at least one sack in four of the final five games. 

Nicholas Tonga also got home for a sack, while Tory Cabral and Jonathan Kanaley shared credit on a quarterback takedown.

Xavier Perry finished with three tackles, three pass breaks-up and was a factor in coverage throughout. 

Datavius Bledsoe ended with four solo tackles and assisted on another. Dylan McIntosh and Koy Mortensen each had four tackles in the game.

Canyons punter William Struyk averaged better than 40 yards on his four attempts, including a long of 51 yards, and twice pinned the Renegades deep in their own territory.

COC finishes the year fourth in the eight-team, recently realigned Southern California Football Association (SCFA), National Division, Central League standings. The Cougars previously competed in the SCFA National Division, Northern League until the 2025 season.

The Cougars faced six state-ranked opponents over the course of the season and lost its first three games of the year by a combined nine points.

Golden West (10-0, 7-0) won the Central League championship followed by Cerritos College (8-2, 6-1) and Fullerton (7-3, 5-2) across the top three spots. Golden West and Cerritos will both advance to the 3C2A State Playoffs, while Fullerton will host a postseason Bowl Game.

Canyons will not compete in the postseason for the first time since the 2022 season, and just the second time since 2015.

Stay up to date on all this season's action by following the College of the Canyons Athletic department on social media at @COCathletics on X, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. 

—Photo by Dylan Hancock/COC Sports Information