COS Football in a game vs. Delta in 2021. (Photo Credit Norma Foster)

September 9, 2022

COS vs. San Mateo Game Notes

GAME NOTES . . .

College of the Sequoias (1-0) vs. College of San Mateo (1-0)

Saturday, September 10, 2022—COS Campus Field

LAST GAME: Both teams were victorious in their season opener, the Giants winning 39-33 at Butte and San Mateo, down 13-10 at the half, scored 35 second-half points to beat Sierra 45-28 at home.

SERIES: San Mateo leads 9-4. The first game was in the 1981 Northern California playoffs. Last year's game, a

41-0 San Mateo win, was the first game between the teams since 2010.

RANKINGS: The Bulldogs remained ranked No. 2 in Northern California and No. 4 in the state, in this week's JC Athletic Bureau official state rankings. COS, ranked 23^rd in the pre-season, jumped to No. 12 in the state rankings and No. 5 in Northern California.

COACHES: COS head coach Travis Burkett is now in his third season, having been hired in April of 2020. His career record at COS is 7-7. Burkett has 15 prior seasons as an assistant at the Division 1 level, most recently as the running backs coach at Nevada-Las Vegas. He was also an assistant at Cornell for 10 seasons. Travis starred at San Luis Obispo High before advancing to St. Mary's College on scholarship, where he earned a degree in history. Burkett is the 22^nd head coach in COS history. San Mateo coach Tim Tulloch is in his 26^th year on the Bulldog staff and his fifth year as head coach, with a record of 31-6. He won back-to-back conference championships in 2018-19 and the 2019 team was Northern California champions and state runnerups. Tulloch played at Palomar College and completed his career at Menlo College.

BULLDOGS: Although outgained 437-352 last week, San Mateo forced three turnovers and averaged 7.4 yards on 31 rushing attempts (228 yards). Quarterbacks Anthony Grigsby and Richie Watts combined for 12 for 17 passing with two touchdowns. The running game was led by CSM's top two backs, J'Wan Evans (123 yards) and Ezra Moleni (88 yards, 2 touchdowns). Other top offensive players include receivers Jamari East (5 catches, 78 yards, 1 TD), Reymello Murphy (3 catches), and tight end Brendan Doyle. On defense, standouts include defensive backs Tyrice Ivy and Malini Ti'a, linebacker Fynn Williams and lineman Quincy Likio. San Mateo has a potent weapon in returning all-conference placekicker Gabe Plascencia, who last week nailed a 45-yard field goal and was 6-6 on extra points.

GIANTS: After Butte scored on the first offensive play from scrimmage, the Giants rolled to an 18-6 lead last week and never looked back. Sequoias ran 74 plays to Butte's 41, and its 42:03 possession time eclipsed the old school record by 28 seconds, which was set in 2004. COS outgained Butte 393-291. The standouts were many: on offense, running back Danny Olivera, whose 18-yard touchdown run sealed the game; receiver Alex Ledesma, who caught a fourth quarter touchdown pass; receivers Rolando Holmes and DeWayne Coleman; tight end Anthony Valencia, who caught 7 passes for 77 yards, including touchdown catches of 16 and 27 yards; running back Aidan Galvan, who rushed for two touchdowns and caught 3 passes; and quarterback Nathan Lamb, who continued his stellar play from last year with 20-26 passing for 239 yards and 3 touchdowns. Lamb was also the second leading Sequoias rusher with 42 yards in 12 attempts. On defense, standouts last week included linebackers Tokyo Gordon, Isaak Guzman and Anthony Vaca; linemen Hayden Scott, Michael Machado and Isaiah Jackson, and backs Brendan Feeney and Michael Wessel.

NOTES: This is COS' first home game, all will be in the daytime. The game close to being played at night will be at Modesto, a 5 pm start…other Giant opponents ranked this week include Diablo Valley, 13^th in the state and 6^th in NorCal; Reedley, 18^th and 7^th, Butte, 19^th and 8^th, Fresno, 20^th and 9^th, and Modesto, 21^st and 10^th. San Joaquin Delta (38^th) Sacramento (41^st) and Contra Costa (42^nd) are also ranked…an addition to the COS coaching staff is linebackers and special teams coach Matt Mendonca, hired full-time this summer. Mendonca is a Tulare Union graduate and played at COS in 2002-03. He went on to play at Jamestown College. Matt was previously on the COS staff a decade ago. He was also the head coach at Lindsay High School and most recently, as assistant at Reedley College. His wife Cori Janelli is the Giants' softball coach…the Giants enter the game with a three-game winning streak, their longest since 2015…another new face on the coaching staff is Michael Machado (no relation to the defensive lineman), the former head coach at El Capitan (Merced), Porterville and Mission Oak High Schools. Machado helped coach at COS in the covid-shortened spring 2021 season…with last week's game, Lamb has moved into fifth place on the COS career passing leaders with 218 completions. He is also now sixth all-time in career total offense with 3054 yards…next week Sequoias plays at San Joaquin Delta College (Stockton) in a 1 pm game. Next home game is September 24 vs. Shasta, also at 11 am.