For the second straight year, Reedley College will host the Northern California American Division Championship Bowl football game.
The 2019 contest with the Foothill College Owls is set for 1 pm Saturday at Reedley High School's Sal Gonzalez Field. Reedley brings a 9-1 record into the game (with the only loss to the Owls) while Foothill completed its first-ever perfect season last Saturday afternoon with a 34-3 victory over Los Medanos College.
The two-time American Golden Coast champion Reedley Tigers finished 2019 with a perfect 6-0 record after a 52-34 victory over Hartnell College last Saturday in Reedley.
Last year, Reedley came into the bowl game undefeated but lost the division championship game to DeAnza 42-41 in Reedley. The Tigers and Foothill met on Sept. 28 this year in Los Altos Hills with Foothill recording a 32-20 victory. In that loss, the Tigers were without star running back Jamon Chambers and were held to a net of minus 18 yards rushing.
"It's hard," said Tiger head coach Eric Marty after the win over Hartnell. "It was a little bit of a trap game, obviously. You have the huge emotional high. You go on the road the week before and beat an undefeated team in Monterey. We knew Hartnell was a good team but we felt confident, getting them at home. We probably didn't come with the same energy and enthusiasm that we've come all year in the first half but the guys did a good job refocusing in the second half, finishing the game.
"We've built this thing right," added the coach. "We've got a deep talented roster and in four quarters, we are going to wear people down."
Marty added that it was great to see Chambers reach the 1,000-yard rushing mark. "It's an individual accolade but also a team accolade. We are good offensively, we are good up front. Our defense gets us the ball back. It's exciting that within the framework of your team, guys start doing special things. Jay Vance is going to be near the top of the state in sacks. All those things are just really, really exciting for the program, for the fans and those individuals."
Last Saturday in Reedley, the Tigers scored 24 unanswered points after the Panthers had pulled to within 14-13 early in the second quarter.
Depth may have made a difference as the Tigers honored 25 sophomores before the contest while Hartnell had only 30 players in uniform.
Jamon Chambers scored three touchdowns for the Tigers, giving the sophomore from Tacoma, WA 19 scores on the season. He also leads the state in points scored. Chambers ran 22 times for 140 yards, increasing is his season total to 1,005 yards.
Charles Peoples, a sophomore from Atlanta GA, intercepted two passes for the Tigers. He returned one to the Hartnell 2, from where quarterback Bubba Hixson (Suwanee, GA) scored three plays later. Peoples had a touchdown called back at the one after a celebration penalty.
The Tiger defense scored Reedley's final touchdown of the contest as freshman Aarin Gladden (Los Angeles) scooped up a fumble and scored from nine yards out for Reedley's 65th touchdown of the season.
Reedley finished the regular season third in the state in scoring with 480 points. The Tigers were first in Northern California by a wide margin.
By: Will Goldbeck