Reedley College improved to 2-0 in the Golden Coast Conference football standings and 5-1 overall Saturday afternoon in Reedley with a 47-3 victory over the 1-6 Gavilan College Rams.
Four different Tigers found the endzone in the first half as Reedley, ranked 21st in the state in the California Community College Sports Information Association poll, jumped out to a 31-3 halftime lead.
The first 30 minutes featured a 99-yard touchdown drive, capped by an amazing leaping catch by Derek Mays (Orlando, FA)I on a 30-yard scoring pass from quarterback Bubba Hixson (Suwanee, GA) with 36.8 seconds left in the second quarter.
Kicker Jorge Rosales (Arvin) opened the scoring midway in the opening quarter with a 36-yard field goal. The Tigers got the ball back 79 seconds later as Gavilan lost the ball on downs on their own 34. Four plays later, Hixson found River Walker (Jacksonville, FA) for a 9-yard touchdown pass.
The Tigers had possession for four and a half minutes more than the Rams in the first quarter.
Drew Zaubi (Crestwood, KY) took over at quarterback in the second half and threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to tight end John Calderon (Dinuba) late in the third quarter. Rosales added three more field goals to get him four on the afternoon.
Cameron Lockridge (Miami, FA) had an interception in the end zone on the first play of the fourth quarter. Ben Luna (Lone Pine) had a quarterback sack at the Tiger 5 on the game's final play.
Offensively, the Tigers averaged 6.8 yards per offensive play as they finished with 503 net yards, compared to 160 for the Rams. Jamon Chambers finished with 102 yards on 14 carries while Jonathan Perryman added 72 yards on just seven carries. Hickson completed 15 of 21 for 191 yards and three touchdowns.
"Defensively, we've been lights out all year," said Tiger head coach Eric Marty after the win. On the offensive side, the Tigers have started slowly in most of the six games but they are still second in the state in scoring.
"Its a different team than last year was," said Marty of the 10-1 Tigers of 2018. "Last year, we were very offensive driven. Even when our defense started slow, our offense was usually going. This year, it is the other way around."
The coach is really proud of the defense and the Tiger defensive coaching staff. "It's also just a testament of where we are at as a program now. We are much more of a complete team. We can win games with our special teams and our defense. We can win games with our offense. That's a really good place to be."
Marty knows that Gavilan has been struggling lately. "But it was good to come off the bye and get going again."
Reedley is scheduled to travel to San Jose City College for a 1 pm Saturday contest. The Jaguars, one of seven winless teams in the state, are coming off a 42-0 road loss to Hartnell College.
By: Will Goldbeck
