by Larry Ham
The Reedley College Tigers opened the 2011 football season Saturday night with a 41-33 loss to Foothill College at Reedley High School Stadium.
In most cases a season opening loss would be cause for concern, and there’s no doubt head coach Randy Whited was unhappy to start 0-1, but there were a lot of positives to be taken from the game for the Tigers.
They were playing the fourth ranked team in the state, and got within four points in the third quarter before a bad snap on a punt resulted in a gift touchdown for Foothill, and the final margin of victory. The very young and inexperienced Tiger offense showed some flashes of productivity, with freshman quarterback Mike Ferrara-Weed throwing for 210 yards and three touchdowns, and also showing an ability to scramble out of trouble.
Tiger teams of the recent past have had trouble finding consistent speed at wideout, but they look like they have a good one in Tereso Guevara, a freshman from Clermont, Florida. Guevara showed breakaway speed and it looks like he’s going to possibly be the go-to guy at wideout. Freshman Kendrick Peeples and sophomore Jamel Turner caught touchdown passes as well.
In the backfield, returning sophomore Joshua Andrews carried sixteen times for 67 yards, including a one yard touchdown plunge. Donte Capers also looked good running the ball, going for 55 yards on ten carries.
All is not rosy for the Tigers on defense. The Tiger defensive backs were beaten and beaten often in the first half, and need to shore things up on deep coverage. And to be perfectly honest, had Foothill quarterback Cory Murphy not left right before the half with a broken hand, things could have really gotten out of hand. The Owls were a different and much less explosive team without Murphy.
So it was good news and bad news for the Tigers, and they will have another big test this Saturday when they travel to face College of San Mateo at two p.m. A little more defense and a continuation of their offensive progress could mean a great win on the road. We shall see.
To hear this weekends webcast go the the Reedley College website and scroll down for Tiger Football on the web.
Check back every Monday evening during football season for the latest game recap!
Check out Larry’s recent interview with Coach Randy Whited.
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