In a fiercely contested matchup, Reedley College managed to pull off a narrow 31-28 victory over Feather River College. Both teams battled back and forth, trading blows in a game that was decided in the final minutes, leaving fans on the edge of their seats until the last whistle.

First Quarter: A Quick Start for Reedley Reedley drew first blood early in the game, with quarterback Jake Hamilton leading a methodical 62-yard drive, capped off by an 8-yard touchdown pass to Anthony Roman. Feather River responded with a field goal by Chris Rapozo after a drive stalled in the red zone, making the score 7-3 by the end of the first quarter.

Second Quarter: Turnovers and Momentum Swings The second quarter featured dramatic momentum shifts as both teams exchanged big plays and key turnovers. Feather River's Michael Bryant intercepted a pass from Hamilton, giving his team excellent field position. Feather River capitalized with a 1-yard touchdown by Marco Casci to take a 10-7 lead.

However, Reedley responded immediately. Linebacker Rashid Mansour intercepted a pass and returned it for a touchdown, swinging the momentum back in Reedley's favor as they went up 14-10. Feather River clawed their way back, with a 14-yard touchdown pass from Michael Kearns to Kyle Valdez to reclaim the lead 18-14, but Reedley answered right before halftime, driving 68 yards in under four minutes and scoring on a 10-yard pass to Joseph Bass to regain a 21-18 advantage going into the break.

Third Quarter: Big Plays and a Narrow Reedley Lead The third quarter saw Feather River's offense sustain a long, 16-play drive that ate up more than seven minutes of the clock. However, their efforts were stymied by a missed field goal, keeping the score close. Reedley then capitalized on their next possession, with Hamilton connecting with Donavan Smith for a 79-yard bomb that extended Reedley's lead to 28-18.

Fourth Quarter: Feather River Fights Back, but Falls Short Feather River's resilience showed in the final quarter as they trimmed the deficit to just three points. Kearns engineered a scoring drive, hitting Nash for a key completion and leading to a rushing touchdown that made it 28-25. After a defensive stop, Feather River drove into Reedley territory but had to settle for a Rapozo field goal to tie the game at 28-28.

Fortunate Fate!

With just 7:20 left, Reedley mounted what would be the game-winning drive. The Tigers moved the chains three times in 3rd and long situations. At the 2-minute warning the Tigers were sitting at 3rd and 2 on the FRC 22nd yard line and converted another 1st down on a 4-yd Joseph Bass run.  Two more run plays forced Feather River to use their remianing timeouts, leaving 1:13 left on the clock. The tigers ran one last time on 3rd down and 5 from the 13 yrd line.  Using their first timeout with 23 seconds to go on 4th and 5, the Tigers just needed to kick a 33-yd field goal and try to hold on.  However, the snap was a bit high and FRC broke through to force a squibbed kick left of the uprights! But fate fell to the Black and Orange as a penalty flag for roughing the kicker was thrown, and the Tigers are on the ball again with 1st and goal on the FRC 7-yd. line and only 20 seconds left.  

2nd Chance Finish!

The Tigers used two more run plays and a timeout to get the ball to the one yard line with one second left in the game and a 2nd-Chance to claim the victory!

Jayden Evangelo knocked in a clutch field goal as the clock ran out giving Reedley a 31-28 VICTORY! What an amazing finish to a very hard fought battle by both teams!

Key Performers:

• Reedley QB Jake Hamilton threw for two touchdowns and orchestrated the game-winning drive.
• Feather River's Michael Kearns showcased dual-threat ability, passing and rushing for key gains.
• Reedley's defense, led by Rashid Mansour's pick-six, came up big when it mattered most.

This victory keeps Reedley's momentum strong as they complete non-conferenec play at 3-3 going into Bye-Week.  The Tigers will begin NCFC Valley Confernce play starting off at home vs. Modesto  on Oct 26th for a 1pm kickoff at RHS. There are only four games in conference play this season due to the late program hiatus of the Contra Costa College football team.  The Tigers play COS on the road and home again vs. Sac City on Nov 9th.  Reedley will finish conference play vs. FCC for the Battle of the Pump in Fresno again this year. The fight for the confernce title is tight and will be a turkey shoot as every team has played tough oppoenents. 

Keep up the hard work Tigers!!