Giants football to face Sierra in Golden State Bowl on Dec. 1 in Rocklin
By Nick Giannandrea
COS ATHLETICS
For the fourth straight championship season, College of the Sequoias football team has been selected to participate in a bowl game.
The JC Athletic Bureau state No. 24-ranked Giants (5-5) will face host and No. 21-ranked Sierra (5-5) in the Golden State Bowl at 5 p.m. Dec. 1 in Rocklin.
It's the fourth time in the history of a program that dates to 1927 that Sequoias will play in a bowl in four or more consecutive championship seasons, and the first time since playing in five straight between 1987-1991.
"No one around here is going to be satisfied with a 6-5 season, but we understand how hard it is to win at this level," Giants coach Travis Burkett said. "We're on one of the most successful stretches in the last 25 years of football here. That's a testament to the hard work and production a lot of people have put in. Kudos to our staff, our administration, all our support staff and especially the players."
Sequoias gained bowl eligibility for the third time under Burkett with a 14-0 road victory over Contra Costa on Nov. 11 in its Valley Conference and regular season finale.
The Giants scored the only points they would need on a 1-yard touchdown run by John Friend (Pearland, Texas) in the first quarter. Clark Coleman (Vancouver, Wash.) added a 1-yard touchdown plunge in the second quarter.
That would be plenty of points for a defense that posted its first shutout of the season behind Caleb Chenault (Hanford High), who had a team-leading seven tackles along with a forced fumble.
Sequoias defense also received six tackles from Julian Espinoza (Tulare Union); five tackles, including three for losses and 1 1/2 quarterback sacks from Rhett Saravela (Vancouver, Wash.) and five tackles each from Jah'Mere La'Sane (Las Vegas) and My'Quel Johnson (Las Vegas).
Coleman completed 15 of 18 passes for 181 yards, Dylan Gurule (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) rushed for 86 yards on 18 carries, and AJ Dixson (Vancouver, Wash.) caught five passes for 66 yards to lead the Giants' offense.
Beating Contra Costa and earning a bowl bid provided many benefits to Sequoias.
"In the short term, if you're practicing football during Thanksgiving week and playing games in December, you're a winner. That's important," Burkett said. "Zoom out to a program level, the 10 extra practices, the meetings, the walk-throughs, the lifting, the time under our care continues to develop the guys coming back.
"And at the tip of the sphere, it's more time putting our product on display. More time highlighting our community, our college and this team. Those are three big bullet points on what an extra game gets you."
In addition to all of that, the Golden State Bowl is the only game scheduled for Dec. 1 across all of California Community College football, making it the focal point for four-year college coaches on the recruiting trail. And it falls on the first day four-year coaches can make contact with prospective players during the winter recruiting period.
Burkett said he expects roughly 25 of his players to move on to play for four-year universities between December and June.
"If a coach likes the way one of our guys plays, and now has a chance to legally talk to him after the game, then come to Visalia and watch him run around or lift," Burkett said. "And then does a home visit and comes around and talks to us. That's really impactful."
Sierra will provide an interesting challenge for Sequoias based on results against six common opponents.
Consider:
* The Wolverines beat two teams that defeated the Giants (Fresno City and Reedley).
* Sierra blew out (45-0) a Shasta team that Sequoias edged in overtime (40-37).
* The Giants lost a tight battle (23-20) against a Butte team that throttled the Wolverines (56-6).
* And both lost to San Mateo, Sierra by three points (37-34) and Sequoias by three scores (49-21), while both cruised past San Joaquin Delta by double-digit margins.
The Wolverines have been led by receiver Dontae Robinson, who has 49 receptions for 841 yards and 10 touchdowns.
"The 10 games we've played so far have shown how competitive we are and how tough our schedule is," Burkett said. "Sierra is no different. Sierra is really good."
