SAN JACINTO -- Grossmont certainly didn't look like the football team that steamrolled Mt. San Jacinto last year on the way to a state title. The Eagles' challenge in the Foothill Conference, though, still looks very much like it did a year ago.

Second-half penalties bogged down MSJC in the second half, sieve-like kick coverage allowed Grossmont 191 yards on returns and the Griffins handed the Eagles a conference-opening 30-10 loss that swiftly wiped away the program's two-game winning streak to start the season.

"The kicking game, they out-played us in the kicking game," MSJC head coach Ed Carbery said. "That's a big difference. . . . You have to be able to place the ball, surgically if you need to. They had a number of returns for big yards and that set the table."

Grossmont -- ranked No. 12 in the state and No. 8 in Southern California -- looked little like the team that routed the Eagles last year in a 83-35 loss that followed victories over the same Los Angeles Pierce and Los Angeles Valley programs that MSJC defeated to begin 2006.

The Griffins, of course, didn't need that kind of precision this time around, with Eagles quarterback Jordan Hudson throwing two interceptions and Grossmont's special teams averaging 31.8 yards a return on punts and kicks to set up an average start at MSJC's 46-yard line.

Kicker Jared Ballman kicked field goals of 21, 33 and 41 yards, the Griffins added two second-half touchdowns -- Justin Johnson's 19-yard catch from Josh Soli in the third and Kevin Smith's 9-yard run in the fourth -- and the bulk of MSJC's 17 penalties (121 yards) came in the final half to slow the Eagles (2-1, 0-1) from keeping pace after they trailed, 13-10, heading into the locker room.

"We played hard and we played with a lot of effort," said MSJC running back Kevin Slaughter, whose rushed for an 8-yard touchdown and finished with 52 yards on 15 touches. "But we had a lot of slip-ups. We need to play better to defend our home field."

The thinking heading into Saturday's matchup was this: The Eagles, ranked No. 15 in Southern California, had grown considerably since losing to Grossmont (2-1, 1-0) and Chaffey in conference action last year and the Griffins had fallen a bit off the pace.

Grossmont, after all, came into the game with the second-worst scoring offense and the Eagles came in with the best. But Hudson, the conference's top passer, struggled to overcome an erratic start in the air (he finished 10-of-24 for 69 yards), his supporting cast didn't produce enough to supplement the 82 yards the quarterback turned in on 19 rushes and the defense was asked to defend short fields far too often to come away with a win.

In fact, holding the Griffins to a pair of field goals on three drives that began inside MSJC's 30-yard line likely kept Grossmont from severely damaging the Eagles' Foothill Conference title hopes.

"It's disappointing, but I still think we have the players," Slaughter said. "We have a lot of talent, guys with speed, size on our offensive line, quickness on defense, guys that an cover. We have to show what we can do. Our goal is still Fresno."

Contact Jeff Sanders at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2629 or at jsanders@californian.com.