REEDLEY –Thanks to a comeback 29-21 victory in Santa Rosa this past weekend, the 15th-ranked Reedley College Tiger football team will take a record of 4-1 into the start of Valley Conference play on Saturday, Oct. 14.
Coach Rob Hartenfels’ squad will travel to San Pablo in the Bay Area to play the undefeated Contra Costa College Comets at 1 p.m. on the 14th in the conference opener for both teams. Contra Costa replaced West Hills Coalinga as one of the conference teams in 2023. The Comets are coming off a 23-7 victory over a winless Chabot squad on Sept. 30.
In Santa Rosa on Saturday night, Sept. 30, the Tigers trailed 21-6 with nine minutes left in the third quarter before scoring the game’s final 23 points. Reedley took the lead for good with 11 minutes and two seconds left to play on freshman Landon Almeida’s 2-yard scoring pass from quarterback DJ Stevenson, capping a 92-yard drive in 10 plays. It was Almeida’s first touchdown catch of the season.
The Tiger head coach first had to praise the Tiger defense in his Sunday afternoon comments on Oct. 1. “The defense played super tough and never gave up,” Hartenfels said. “Our punt team and punter helped back up Santa Rosa’s field position and led to a third quarter safety late in the third quarter to cut the deficit to 21-15.”
Key plays in the go ahead drive were a first down run of 17 yards by Contae Cason (who finished with 104 yards on 27 carries) and a 39-yard pass from Stevenson to Ladanian Streets to get the ball to the 5.
“DJ led some big drives in the second half,” said the coach. On defense, Amarian Hunter had an outstanding game on the defensive line. The Tiger secondary held Santa Rosa (who came into the game in the state passing stats) to 202 yards, their lowest total of the season.
Stevenson opened the scoring with a 13-yard touchdown pass to Anthony Dowie midway in the opening quarter. Stevenson finished 9 of 19 for 163 yards as Reedley outgained the Bear Cubs, 385 to 269.
Six teams with 4-1 records remain in California, with Contra Costa one of eight undefeated teams halfway through the 2023 season.
Women’s soccer blanks West Hills, moves into third place
Coach Onesta Francis’ Reedley College women’s soccer team moved into third place in Valley Conference action last week with a 2-0 victory over West Hills Lemoore on Sept. 26.
A scheduled Friday night home match on Sept. 29 with winless Porterville College was postponed.
Against Lemoore, goals by Nazira Nunez and Krysta Casas allowed Reedley to improve to 3-2 in conference action and 6-3 overall.
In the latest poll, Reedley is ranked 17th in the state. On Tuesday, Oct. 3, Reedley was scheduled to travel to Fresno to face the arch rival Rams before a Tuesday, Oct. 10 match at Madera Community College.
Tigers volleyball runs win streak to two
Reedley College will take a two-match women’s volleyball winning streak into a Wednesday, Oct. 4 home match at 6 p.m. against the College of the Sequoias Giants.
Coach Mariah Roby-Stewart’s Lady Tigers defeated winless Columbia College in four games on Friday, Sept. 29 at Reedley’s Paul Mitchell Court.
No statistics were available for Reedley’s 25-14, 22-25, 25-18, 26-24 victory. Reedley improved to 2-3 in conference and 3-7 overall in conference action. After meeting COS, the Tigers head to Porterville on Friday, Oct. 6.
Reedley returns home to host Taft College on Wednesday, Oct. 11 at 5 p.m.
