The window for a run at the state championship shrunk Saturday for No. 4 College of San Mateo as it came away 2 yards short of a comeback in a 28-20 loss on the road to top-ranked Butte College.
The clash between the last two undefeated teams in Northern California went down the wire in Oroville as the Bulldogs (7-1, 2-1 NorCal) had first-and-goal from the 7-yard line. CSM ran the ball four times, but quarterback Casey Wichman was stopped for a loss from 2 yards out on fourth down as time expired.
In the chess match between the trenches, both teams called timeouts prior to fourth down. CSM gained 401 yards on 59 carries, with the bulk coming on a 67-yard touchdown by running back George Naufahu in the first half and a 93-yard scamper by Wichman with 10:04 left in the third quarter.
Neither team scored after that, with Butte (8-0, 3-0) limited to 127 rushing yards on 36 attempts — or 2.8 yards per carry. But the Roadrunners found ways to score, with 21-yard pass on an option pass from a wide receiving making it 14-0 in the second quarter before back-to-back touchdowns from Naufahu, who finished with 125 yards on 15 carries.
But Butte took a 21-14 edge into intermission after a 14-yard touchdown pass with 13 ticks left in the half, then doubled its lead with a 92-yard kickoff return out of the locker room.
CSM turned it over three times, losing a pair of fumbles. The Bulldogs had a chance to pull even with 4:23 left in the fourth quarter, but a pass from just outside the red zone on fourth-and-6 was intercepted at the 2-yard line. Wichman finished 3-of-13 for 58 passing yards with no touchdowns, on top of his game-high 130 yards on 14 carries.
Owls, Oaks routed on road
Foothill College was unable to find the end zone in a 35-0 loss at City College of San Francisco, which was coming off a loss to CSM.
The Owls (2-6, 0-3) lost the turnover battle 5-4 during their fifth consecutive loss, with quarterback Ricky Hoffer (Woodside) tossing three interceptions during a 10-of-27 afternoon in which he threw for 130 yards.
CCSF quarterback Turner Baty, who transferred from Menlo-Atherton after his junior season in 2009, tossed three touchdowns in the first half and finished 13-of-32 for 285 yards with an interception.
Meanwhile, in front of a crowd of nearly 5,550 in Wichita Falls, Texas, Menlo College was unable to corral Midwestern State, which rushed for 412 yards and eight touchdowns and threw for one more en route to its seventh straight win.
The Oaks (3-5) struck the only time during their first drive of the second half, when Jordan Hakuole found some space and broke free for a 22-yard touchdown run to cap off the six-play, 55-yard drive that cut the MSU lead to 30-7 with 11:43 to play in the quarter. Senior linebacker James Yoder had nine tackles and 1½ sacks for Menlo.
On the road for the month of October, the Oaks play their first home game in seven weeks Saturday at noon against Presentation College.
