It took a Butte College touchdown with eight seconds remaining to decide the 2023 Northern California Bowl Saturday in Oroville. Butte's Christian Vaughn scored his third touchdown of the day (a 14-yard run) to decide the game, a 30-24 Butte victory. The Roadrunners, ranked seventh in the state, finished the season at 9-2 while the Tigers, ranked 14th, finished at 7-4.   "We will bounce back," said Tiger head coach Rob Hartenfels after facing Butte in the cold and wet conditions.

Vaughn rushed for 61 of the team's 81 yards of the 81 total yards in the deciding drive, finishing the season with 1,456 yards on the season after recording 202 yards on 24 attempts and three touchdowns against the Tigers.
After Vaughn opened the scoring with a 4-yard touchdown run about three minutes into the game, the Tigers answered with 10 points of their own. Jayden Evangelo kicked a 27-yard field goal and Ron Vann capped an 87-yard, 12-play drive by catching an 11-yard touchdown pass from D.J. Stevenson.
The two teams traded touchdowns before halftime with Vaughn scoring from four yards out and Reedley scoring on an 18-yard run by C'ontae Cason.
Butte scored 10 points in the third quarter, blanking the Tigers.

"Our defense played outstanding,* praising the secondary, led by sophomores Denon Fagan and Aaron Boesch. Linebackers Langston Latham and Brak Hill led the Tiger tacklers. Special teams did a good job keeping the ball away from Jonah Marcaida, one pf the top return men in the state.
Nick Osho finished with 104 yards on 21 attempts.

Reedley tied the score with less than four minutes remaining on a short touchdown run by Stevenson.
 

Unfortunately, there just wasn't enough time left.  However, this was a big improvement since the last time these two teams met in a bowl game.  In 2021 the Roadrunners blanked the Tigers 34-0.  The improvement over the past two seasons has been tremendous and a testimony to the hardwork of the Coach Hartenfels and his staff. The level of student-athlete tht we are attracting is getting better each year and we're helping more and more move on to big programs.  In time we will be back to vyeing for State Championships.  

CONGRATS to the TIGERS on a great season! 

ALL CONFERENCE HONOREESS for the TIGERS are as follows: