GILROY—For the second week in a row, Gavilan was ahead entering the fourth quarter. For the second week in a row, the fourth quarter got the best of the Rams.
Reedley capitalized on two late Ram fumbles and watched the momentum—and the scoreboard—change in its favor. The Tigers scored 24 points in the final quarter to beat Gavilan 44-33 Sept. 27 in Reedley.
The Rams led by six points early in the fourth quarter, 33-27, before Rams quarterback Drew Fryhoff fumbled. The ball was recovered at Gavilan’s 25-yard-line and less than a minute later Reedley quarterback Josh Allen was in the endzone and his team had taken the lead.
Reedley scored again on a 38-yard run from Allen with 9:07 left and didn’t have to wait long before it had possession again. Gavilan’s Anthony Brooks fumbled and the Tigers recovered, but would stopped at the Rams’ 22-yard-line and have to settle for a field goal for the final.
“What we need to do a better job of is what I’ve said every week: controlling turnovers, winning the turnover battle,” Gavilan coach Spencer Gilford. “What we’ve done the last two games is lose the turnover battle. The first two games we won the turnover battle and that’s why we’re 2-2.”
Reedley was just the tip of what is a tough Golden Coast League iceberg. Next up is the 4-0 West Hills-Coalinga, one of the premier teams in the American Division. The Falcons feature one of the Golden State’s toughest defenses and it proved it last week.
The Falcons held Monterey to just 89 yards on the ground—353 of total offense—and put its quarterback on the ground eight times for a loss of 30 yards in their 40-10 win. Maurice Daniels was a part of two and half of those sacks and four other Falcons had at least one sack. West Hills also racked up 11 tackles, which cost Monterey 35 yards.
Oh and it’s pretty good on the other side of the ball, too.
The Falcons had 613 yards of offense against Monterey, 173 of which came from running back Tyron Jones—who, surprisingly, didn’t have a touchdown. Jones reached that number on 18 carries and averaged 9.6 yards each time, meaning the Falcons almost had a first down every time he touched the ball.
Quarterback Freddy Tallulu had 18 completions for 331 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. He hit Anthony Mahoungou six times for 193 yards and a touchdown.
But none of this is a surprise to Gavilan.
“They play well in all three phases of the game,” Gilford said. “We know who we’re facing and we know the challenge ahead of us. What we need to do is a matter of controlling the controllables. Controlling how we approach the game, controlling our focus throughout all four quarters and controlling our energy levels and our attitude throughout the game and making sure that we finish.”
Gilford said the team isn’t making any changes to prepare for the Falcons and it intends to play to its strengths. The Rams are still No. 3 in the state in scoring, putting up 60-plus points in their first two games and scoring 68 in their last two. Fryhoff was stellar again, going 18 for 33 for 246 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. He connected with Jesse Barker 5 times for 104 yards and a touchdown, while Miguel Redmond amassed 83 yards on 16 carries.
Production isn’t the problem, Gilford said, instead it’s making sure Gavilan stays mentally tough all game.
“The first two games we finished the game in the second half. The last two games, we got finished,” he said. “A lot of our young players and new players to the program are understanding that college football is its own animal; you have to play all four quarters to secure a win and you can never let off mentally or physically.”
The Rams might be 2-2 overall, but they are 0-1 in league—and that’s where it really counts, Gilford said. If Gavilan is going to achieve its goal this season, it needs to pick up a league win. The Rams will get their chance to pick up their first one when they host West Hills at 5 p.m. Saturday at the Garcia-Elder Sports Complex.
“For our level this is the toughest one (league) and we’re figuring out how to win in it,” Gilford said. “The goal has always been to win the league title and it’s not going to change—every win in league is important.”
