CSM DOWNS CONTRA COSTA, 57-6, TO SET-UP 1ST PLACE SHOWDOWN AT CCSF SAT.

COLLEGE OF SAN MATEO SPORTS NEWS   October 21, 2017   Contact: Fred Baer  baerf@smccd.edu

CSM DOWNS CONTRA COSTA, 57-6, TO SET-UP 1ST PLACE SHOWDOWN AT CCSF SAT.

SAN MATEO -- College of San Mateo rushed for 352 yards and held visiting Contra Costa College to minus 15 yards (including three safeties) while rolling to a 57-6 Bay 6 League football victory Saturday afternoon (Oct. 21) at College Heights Stadium. That sets up a first place showdown between the No. 4 state-ranked Bulldogs (6-1) at No. 9 City College of San Francisco (5-2) on Saturday (Oct. 28) at 1 p.m. Both are 2-0 in league play. The other teams have already lost league games.

CCSF downed Santa Rosa, 54-7 Saturday. Both Contra Costa and Santa Rosa were playing their first league games after having their opener (against each other) postponed by the wine country wildfires.

CSM quarterback Miles Kendrick completed 12 of 18 passes for 130 yards and a touchdown and also rushed for 27 yards in less than three quarters of action against the Comets.

Although the Bulldogs held out their top two running backs with slight injuries, they still got three rushers in the 100-yard ballpark. Sophomore Jerome Holloway (out of Homestead High) ran for 100 yards on 10 carries in the first quarter. Sophomore Dennis Green (St. Francis) had 94 on 16 attempts (and two scores). And freshman Raymonde Sanders (Riordan) totaled 97 yards on 20 carries. Sanders, normally a wide receiver and wearing No. 84, saw his first noticeable action of the season, playing most of the second half after the other pair were also sidelined.  

The Bulldogs took a 13-0 lead in the first quarter on TD runs by Holloway and Green and extended the margin to 34-6 at halftime.

Rajae Johnson paced CSM pass receivers with five catches for 52 yards and a TD and Jared Latu had two receptions for 37 yards. Johnson and Latu co-lead Bay 6 pass receivers with 29 receptions apiece and are also pacesetters in average yards per game (92.7 and 77.5, respectively). Johnson has the most TD catches, six, followed by Latu with five.

The San Mateo defense accounted for four scores – a touchdown and the unusual trio of safeties. Contra Costa had a total offense of only 132 yards compared to CSM's 513.

The TD came at the beginning of the second quarter when defensive back Freddie Gaines (St. Ignatius) blocked a Contra Costa punt attempt in the end zone and Reuben Baker-Lynch (San Leandro) recovered it for six points. Dahn Bey (Berkeley) and Steve Doughty (Los Gatos) tackled Comets quarterbacks in the end zone for safeties. A third 2-pointer came on a bad snap on a punt attempt in the end zone. The CSM defense caused 3-and-outs on nine other occasions. Mehki Blackmon (Menlo-Atherton) and Jamari Jackson (Christian Brothers) picked off Contra Costa passes.

Doughty led CSM with eight tackles, four solo. Bey had three sacks.

State punting leader Justin Watts averaged 51.8 yards on just four kicks – including a long of 60 yards -- to increase his pacesetting average to 44.8. He also had a 38-yard field goal and leads the Bay 6 in kick-scoring (No. 2 in Northern California) with 45 points.