Antelope Valley Gets More of the Same in 36-7 Setback

LANCASTER — If Coach Brent Carder listed Arizona as his least-favorite place to vacation, who could blame him?

Teams from the Grand Canyon state have made a habit of beating Carder’s Antelope Valley College football teams.

Saturday night’s season opener was no different as Mesa buried the Marauders, 36-7, to drop Carder’s record to 1-6 against Arizona teams.

Mesa, the No. 17-ranked team in the nation by the J.C. Grid-Wire, jumped to an early 10-0 lead.

Antelope Valley had five yards of total offense in the first half and did not register a first down until 32 seconds before halftime.

“We posed our own problems tonight,” Carder said. “We were in a daze in the first half and we couldn’t overcome it.”

Mesa led, 33-0, when Antelope Valley running back Domino Gibson scored on a one-yard run early in the fourth quarter.

The Thunderbirds had 406 yards in offense while holding Antelope Valley to 73.

The Marauders committed four turnovers.

Mesa’s Mike Schroeder completed 20 of 36 passes for 265 yards and Chris Estes kicked five field goals.