Gavilan’s offense provided some spark but the Ram defense was
outmanned Saturday afternoon as host College of the Sequoias
powered to a 63-20 non-conference victory in Visalia.
GILROY
Gavilan’s offense provided some spark but the Ram defense was outmanned Saturday afternoon as host College of the Sequoias powered to a 63-20 non-conference victory in Visalia.
The loss left Coach John Lango’s Rams at 0-3 with two games to play before Coast Conference action begins Oct. 16 at home against San Jose City College. Gavilan takes on the Modesto College Pirates Saturday at Garcia-Elder Sports Complex. Kickoff is 1 p.m.
The 63 points were the most by a Gavilan opponent since Sierra coasted to a 65-0 win over the Rams in 2003. Gavilan exploded for 73 points last season in a victory over Contra Costa, the host of Gavilan’s final non-conference game on Oct. 9 in San Pablo.
“Usually the defense has been our strong point, but against Sequoias only our offense showed up,” Lango said. “We passed pretty well and we limited our penalties to five. We played all three quarterbacks.”
Cameron Hernandez threw for a pair of first-half touchdown passes.
Trailing 7-2, the Rams took a brief 8-7 lead when Hernandez hooked up with Andre Cornell on a 70-yard bomb that easily beat the deep defensive effort by the Giants.
Hernandez added a 24-yard touchdown pitch to Doug Stewart with 24 seconds left in the half to slice the deficit to 32-14. The Giants were able to add a field goal on the final play of the second quarter for a 35-14 intermission edge.
Sequoias took a 7-0 lead when Eric Johnson scored the first of four touchdowns by returning the opening kickoff 77 yards to paydirt.
Gavilan earned a safety for the third consecutive game when defensive end Taylor Coustette tackled the Giants fullback in the end zone one play after punter Ryan Costa’s kick went out of bounds at the Giant 2.
Sequoias scored the game’s next 25 points, including touchdown rushes of 8 and 16 yards by Johnson.
Gavilan’s final points came with 4:12 left in the fourth quarter when quarterback John Criswell drilled a 47-yard touchdown pass to Excaliber Holder.
Sequoias utilized 101 yards on the ground by Brant Botill, who also ran for a touchdown. Phillip Brandt threw for 106 yards, paced by a 38-yard touchdown pass to Johnson.
Forced to the air early in the contest, Gavilan was limited to just 22 rushing yards. Hernandez generated 149 yards passing.
The Coast Conference squads went 1-5 over the weekend.
