Giants football drops season-opener in OT

By Nick Giannandrea

COS ATHLETICS

College of the Sequoias treated an estimated crowd of 1,850 at its new campus facility to bonus football.

Butte College, however, spoiled the debut of Sequoias Stadium.

Christian Vaugh broke loose for a tackle-breaking, 19-yard touchdown run on the second possession of overtime that lifted the state No. 9/No. 10-ranked Roadrunners to a 23-17 season-opening victory over Sequoias on Sept. 2.

"We lost to a really good team, with a really good program, in overtime," Giants coach Travis Burkett said. "They probably think they didn't play very well. I know we didn't play very well. And at the end of the day, they beat us in overtime. That's what happened.

"What we really need to do and focus our coaching on is just tying in that spirit-mind-body connection in critical moments. You know, competitive greatness at the moment of truth. Because we have equal to or better than players (to Butte) in certain spots."

Vaugh's run denied a comeback by the Giants -- who are ranked No. 21 by the JC Athletic Bureau and tied for No. 20 by the California Community College Sports Information Association, respectively, in preseason state polls -- that seemed improbable late in the fourth quarter.

After stopping a Sequoias drive that reached the Butte 28-yard line early in the fourth quarter, the Roadrunners took over and went on a 13-play, 50-yard scoring march that consumed 7 minutes and 27 seconds off the clock. Danny Alvarez' 21-yard field goal put Butte in front 17-14 with 3:31 left in the fourth quarter.

On the ensuing kickoff, Alvarez hit a squibber right up the middle that bounced off the hands of a Sequoias player and was recovered by Butte.

Essentially needing two first downs to seal the victory, the Roadrunners handed off to Takeshi Faupula, who plowed through the Giants' defense for 9 yards before My'Quel Johnson (Las Vegas) knocked the ball out and recovered the fumble with 2:50 to play.

Sequoias quarterback Reilly Garcia (Gilbert, Ariz.) connected with Tae Marks (Vancouver, Wa.) on passes of 19, 5 and 4 yards, and with Alex Herrera (Linden) for a gain of 5 yards to put the Giants in field goal range.

Kurt Kawamoto (Honolulu, Hawaii) kicked a 46-yard field goal -- his longest in a season plus at Sequoias -- with 6 seconds left to tie the score 17-17.

During the first possession of overtime, the Giants failed to gain any ground in three plays before Kawamoto came on and kicked a 43-yard field goal for a short-lived 20-17 Sequoias' lead.

"We don't believe in luck. Luck is where preparation meets opportunity. So, there ain't no luck about being in an overtime game," Burkett said. "Now we have to try and guarantee victory. Where we know we're going to get it. We're not going to go zero yards on offense and make a field goal. We're not going to give up an explosive walk-off run. That's the next step for us. That being said, what I told (the team) is that's winning football. Winning football teams, champion football teams, have a kicker that in those situations, and a battery and snap, hold, kick, that makes those kicks. We can win with that."

Sequoias fell behind 14-0 in the first half.

A roughing the punter penalty on the Giants extended a drive that Butte converted into points nine plays later when Rieger Sayre scored on a 1-yard run on the final play of the first quarter.

The Roadrunners went on a 13-play, 75-yard drive, capped by Sayre's 4-yard run, to go in front 14-0 with 23 seconds left in the second quarter.

Sequoias received a spank to open the third quarter, getting a 73-yard kickoff return by David Alcantar (Tulare Western) to set up its first score, a 1-yard run by Garcia.

The Giants tied the score 14-14 with 2:10 remaining in the third quarter when Riley connected with Wailoa Manuel (Honolulu) for a 74-yard touchdown.

Garcia, making his first start for Sequoias, completed 17 of 32 passes for 239 yards and no interceptions.

Defensively, the Giants were led by Cole Dias (Kingsburg), who had 12 tackles, including 1.5 for losses.

Caleb Chenault (Hanford) had nine tackles and a fumble recovery. Johnson and Julian Espinoza (Tulare Union) had seven tackles apiece, with Espinoza making one tackle for loss.

Will Henderson (Immanuel-Reedley) and Rhett Sarvela (Vancouver, Wa.) each had a sack. Sarvela also forced a fumble. 

"I don't think you can come away from today and say we don't have a smart, tough, gritty football team that tries to do it with class, pride and strength," Burkett said. "Now were we perfect? No. Nobody is. But I think that brand of football that is really important to us, that people see and that our players learn how to operate that way in their lives through our program, I think that showed up today. I know it did. It just wasn't good enough. The precision and execution wasn't good enough."

Sequoias returns to action at 1 p.m. Sept. 9 at defending state champion San Mateo, which sits atop both preseason polls. The Bulldogs opened their season Sept. 2 with a 37-34 victory at No. 14/No. 15 Sierra.

The Giants return to Sequoias Stadium on Sept. 16 when they play host to unranked San Joaquin Delta at 11 a.m. General admission tickets are $10 and $5 for seniors, veterans and college staff. Sequoias students and children 9 and under are free.