Photos By Chris Aguirre / Reedley Exponent https://twitter.com/Caguirre2187
With 101 points in two games, the 2018 version of the Reedley College Tiger football team is the third highest scoring Community College football team in California after Saturday afternoon's 44-20 victory over the Yuba College 49ers in Reedley.
Reedley trails only Citrus College (126) and College of the Desert (111). Citrus took over the top spot after blanking Compton 73-0 on Saturday.
The 2-0 Tigers have scored as many points as Head Coach Eric Marty's first RC season of 2016 did in the first five games.
On Saturday, Yuba pulled to within 10 points at 30-20 early in the fourth quarter as Malik Goss-Pruitt intercepted a Randall Johnson (Los Angeles) pass and returned it 95 yards for a touchdown.
It took less than three minutes for Reedley to answer as Johnson found Mason Layton (Kerman) for a 75-yard score. The Tigers closed out the scoring with 3:47 remaining as Johnson found Andy Pierre-Antoine (North Miami, FL) for a 17-yard touchdown.
The Tigers built a 23-6 halftime lead. Yuba had possession for only 54 seconds of the opening eight minutes of the contest. A 61-yard, 14 play drive was capped by a 4-yard touchdown run by freshman Jamon Chambers (Tacoma, WA).
Yuba turned the ball over on their next play from scrimmage. Defensive lineman Festerson Obaoshan (San Lorenzo) deflected a Yuba pass that was intercepted by Joseph Williams (Los Angeles) and returned to the Yuba 15. Reedley had to settle for a 42-yard field goal by Michael Hamman (Clovis East).
Reedley finished with 489 yards of total offense, compared to 178 for the 49ers. Johnson completed 23 of 36 passes for 284 yards and two touchdowns and was also the Tigers' leading rusher with 54 yards in 13 attempts.
"In year one," said Coach Marty after the win, "trying to score was like trying to pass a kidney stone." The sophomore experience has been a key to the success along with the defense. "We hadn't turned people over and had not scored defensive touchdowns. But this year, we've done that.
Next Saturday, Reedley goes back on the road for a 1pm matchup with Contra Costa College. The Comets opened the season with a 38-6 home loss to Cabrillo College before a 65-12 road loss to the Monterey Peninsula College Lobos.
By Will Goldbeck
