On paper, it appears that Saturday's: Coast conference football game in Aptos between Reedley College Tigers and the Cabrillo College Seahawks would be a close game.
Well, the Tigers had other ideas. Reedley jumped out to a 42–9 lead and held on for a 40 to 23 victory in the conference opener for the Tigers.
Not bad, considering Cabrillo went into the contest undefeated and as the state leader in scoring defense at 5.2 points per game. The two teams were tied for third in the state's Northern California American division rankings.
"It was a great team win," said Tiger head coach Eric Marty. "A great response to the tough lessons of last week. I am really proud of the way we prepared and competed. We are 1-0 in the conference heading into our bye with a chance to get healthy!"
Jamon Chambers (Tacoma, WA) found the endzone three times for Reedley. He opened the scoring with a 71-yard touchdown run and later caught touchdown passes from quarterbacks Drew Zaubi (Crestwood, KY) and Armon Hickson (Covington, GA), who added two short touchdown runs.
After giving up a safety 22 seconds into the second quarter, Reedley rolled up 35 unanswered points in the second and third quarters. First, Chambers capped a 55-yard drive by catching a 37-yard scoring pass from Zaubi. Hickson added touchdown runs of 2 and 1 yards, the latter coming with 35 seconds left in the first half.
Midway in the third quarter, Chambers caught a 23-yard touchdown pass from Hickson. Jonathon Perryman (Mobile, AL) closed out the Tiger scoring with a 22-yard touchdown run.
Reedley finished with 359 yards of total offense (212 passing and 147 passing) compared to 267 for Cabrillo. The Seahawks were slowed by 23 penalties for 179 yards while Reedley was flagged nine times for 77 yards. Five of Reedley's 17 first downs came by penalty.
Chambers finished with 16 carries for 130 yards, an average of 8.1 yards per carry. Hickson completed 10 of 15 passes for 138 yards. Rolph Michel (Miami, FL) the Reedley defense with seven tackles and two assists. Jay Vance (Edison, Fresno) had all three of the Tigers' quarterback sacks while Cameron Lockridge (Tampa, FL) intercepted a Cabrillo pass.
The 4-1 Tigers have the Reedley Fiesta bye next Saturday before the 1 pm Oct. 19 Homecoming matchup with the Gavilan College Rams in Reedley. Gavilan remained winless on the season with a 41-3 loss to the Hartnell College Panthers. Foothill had to come for behind to defeat Yuba 35-24 while Monterey Peninsula also remained undefeated with a 19-9 win over San Jose.
By: Will Goldbeck
