by Larry Ham

The Reedley College Tigers lost a heartbreaker Saturday night, falling to Hartnell College 23-20 in Salinas.

Tiger quarterback Austen Bray threw an interception with less than a minute to play that allowed Hartnell to try a game winning field goal. The kick was wide left, but the Reedley coaches called a timeout just before the snap, so Hartnell’s kicker was able to try it again and kicked it through the uprights from 43 yards out for the win.

It should have never even gotten to that point.

The officiating in this game was atrocious, to put it mildly. The officials clearly had an agenda, and made a number of bizarre calls and non-calls in the second half to allow Hartnell to win a game they had no business winning. Hopefully, Reedley officials will send a tape of the game to the powers that be, and some sort of discipline will be handed out. If I were in charge, these guys would never officiate a game again. If you think I’m over the top with this, then you weren’t there Saturday night to witness it. I was.

The Tiger players were understandably outraged at the end of the game, and were taunted by several members of the Hartnell team as the Panthers left the field. Reedley’s coaches were able to keep things from getting violent, but it was close.

It was also very interesting to note that the personnel in the press box, most notably the P.A. Announcer and his pals, were drinking hard liquor before the game even started, and continued to booze it up throughout the game.

All in all, it was a lovely evening in Salinas.

The Tigers can now take out their frustrations on Monterey Peninsula College this coming Saturday night at Reedley High School Stadium. If the Tigers win, they have a very good chance of playing in a post-season bowl game.

Hartnell plays for the conference title Saturday in Coalinga against West Hills College. Go Falcons!

Check back every Monday evening during football season for the latest game recap and watch for some RC football interviews! And you can check out the webcasts here: www.meridix.com/everywhere.php?liveid=ReedleyCollege

Larry Ham is an ongoing contributor to our
Area Arts & Entertainment section where he covers local sports–something he has a great deal of experience in having covered many an area school game through the years for KRDU radio in Dinuba.