Last Saturday in Hayward, the Tigers improved to 2-0 with a wild 34-26 road victory over the Chabot College Gladiators. The Tigers went into the game ranked 20th in the state, according to the California Community College Sports Information Directors Association and 24th by the JC Athletic Bureau.
The lead in last Saturday's game changed three times. The key for the Tigers was a 21-point third quarter and a huge advantage in time of possession. Reedley's offensive line, led by Jesus Lara, Jacob Bray and Ruben Garcia, dominated and helped wear down the Gladiator defense.
The Tiger defense held Chabot to four net yards of rushing. The Tiger O-line also controlled the line of scrimmage to allow for a dominant running game. Fresh off of NCFC Player-of-the-Week honors last week, freshman RB C'ontae Cason finished with 111 yards on 18 carries and two touchdowns. Nick Osho, carried 11 times for 76 yds., and Paul Sharp finished with 16 yds and a TD on two carries.
NOTE: C'ontae Cason has ran for 264 yds on 30 carries in both games which is over half of the Tigers' 479 total rushing yards.
Almost all of Chabot's offense came in the air as quarterback Colby Faria completed 22 of 40 for 326 yards and four touchdowns. Scoring passes of 33 and 52 yards that went to Carlo Franklin.
A 61-yard kickoff return by Tiger Karlos Grier set up Reedley's go ahead touchdown, on a 15-yard run by Paul Sharp. The Clovis North grad is listed on the Tiger roster as a defensive lineman but has seen action at fullback in both Reedley wins.
"The offensive line played amazing with a big game on the ground," said Tiger head coach Rob Harenfels. Kicker Jayden Evangelo was perfect on field goals of 32 and 33 yards and kicked four extra points. Quarterback DJ Stevenson passed for 103 yards (passing to six different receivers (led by Ron Vann with four catches for 49 yards), Sophomore Langston Latham was credited with five tackles and a sack to lead the defense.
"Our defensive line played a great game," said Coach Lira.
Next up for Reedley will be a 1 pm matchup Saturday in Rocklin against the Sierra College Wolverines. Last Saturday, Sierra escaped Fresno with a 28-27 win over the Rams when the FCC kicker missed an extra point kick with around seven minutes remaining. Sierra opened the new season with a 37-34 loss to the state's top ranked team, the College of San Mateo Bulldogs.
By Will Goldbeck