After Reset, Football Team is Ready to Start Conference Season

The Eagle football team is starting what appears to be a challenging Pacific 7 Conference schedule with a pair of home games Oct. 11th against Chabot and Oct. 18th against Los Medanos.

Like last year, when they finished second in conference with a 4-1 record, the Eagles won 3 and lost 2 in the preseason.

But things have changed in the Pac 7, which now includes Feather River (4-1), San Joaquin Delta (3-2) and Contra Costa (0-5) instead of De Anza, Redwoods, and Yuba.

"Everybody has athletes," Groppi said of this year's conference teams.

The Eagles' first conference opponent, Chabot, is 1-4 after the Pac 7 teams all played a similar preseason schedule against teams from the Golden Coast Conference: De Anza (5-0), Coalinga (3-2), Hartnell (2-3), Merced (2-3), Cabrillo (1-4) and Gavilan (1-4).

Siskiyous beat Merced, Cabrillo and Gavilan and lost to De Anza and Coalinga. Chabot only beat Cabrillo, while losing to De Anza, Coalinga, Merced, and Hartnell.

After Chabot, the Eagles will host a much-improved Los Medanos team that won all 5 of its pre-conference games with a high-powered passing game led by a freshman quarterback and freshman receiver who are both at or near the top of the state in several statistical categories.

Groppi said a bye week helped reset the Eagles after their 42-23 loss at Coalinga Sept. 27th. "The guys came back with a lot of energy and had a good week of practice. We want to keep getting better, have a good game this week, and try to win league."

Despite its 1-4 record, Groppi sees Chabot as a well-coached team that has a good offense and defense. He said the keys for the Eagles in their conference opener will be controlling the ball and clock and containing running back Tariq Ford, who is averaging 96 rushing yards per game, the most among any Pac 7 ball carriers so far.

It should help that the Eagles have some highly ranked defensive players, especially the sophomore linebacking duo of Cody Clarke and Cody Huntsinger. Clarke is ranked 5th in state with 29 solo tackles and 9th with 43 total tackles. Huntsinger is ranked 8th in state with 27 solo tackles and 15th with 41 total tackles.

Also for the defense, sophomore lineman Zaveon Jones leads the Eagles with 7 tackles for loss, 2 fumble recoveries, and 2 pass breakups, while freshman nose guard Kyrese Banks

has 6.5 tackles for loss, and freshman linebacker Tim Hart has 2 pass breakups. Redshirt freshman defensive back Aidan Nelson has a team-high 3 pass interceptions, and freshman Clay Rhoades has 2.

On offense, sophomore receiver David Wacenske ranks 2nd in conference and 12th in state with 29 pass receptions, and he's 3rd in conference with 385 pass receiving yards.

Sophomore quarterback Brayden Schiefer has completed 64.6 percent of his pass attempts for 667 yards with 4 touchdowns and 3 interceptions. He had a good game in the loss at Coalinga, completing 24 of 32 pass attempts for 247 yards, 2 TD, and no interceptions.

The Eagles running game had an off day at Coalinga, but it has been good otherwise. Sophomore Bryson McFall is averaging 60.6 rushing yards per game, and freshman Morgan De Lago is averaging 51.6. They're ranked 6th and 8th respectively among Pac 7 ball carriers. Freshman James Thurman has rushed for 167 yards, Schiefer 121, and redshirt freshman quarterback Kyle Dixon 91.

McFall and short-yardage running back Zaveon Jones lead the Eagles with 5 rushing touchdowns each.

Freshman wide receiver Rafael Bauman has 6 catches for 162 yards and a team-best 27 yards per catch with 3 touchdowns. 'He's explosive," Groppi said of Bauman. Freshman receiver Asher Lucas has 9 catches for 150 yards, and sophomore tight end Parker Ziebert has 7 catches for 97 yards and 2 touchdowns.

The Eagles have been averaging 400 yards of offense per game, 210 rushing and 190 passing, and 34.4 points per game.

Among the other Pacific 7 teams, Los Medanos is averaging 550 yards of offense per game and far and away has the best passing offense with 340 yards per game. Feather River is averaging 487 yards per game and far and away has the best rushing offense with close to 340 yards per game. Los Medanos averages just over 4 touchdown passes per game, and Feather River averages nearly 5 rushing touchdowns per game.

Feather River (55.4) and Los Medanos (53) are both averaging more than 50 points per game, while San Joaquin Delta is averaging 33.6, Chabot 13.8, and Contra Costa 12.8.

Feather River is also stingy on defense, allowing just 12.6 points per game and 260 yards of total offense. San Joaquin Delta has allowed 18.6 points and 310 yards of total offense per game, Los Medanos 20.4 points and 366 yards, Siskiyous 22.2 points and 340 yards, Chabot 28.8 points and 316 yards, and Contra Costa 38.8 points and 429 yards.

Los Medanos and Feather River both got votes in the most recent state poll, although not enough to be ranked in the Top 25.

By Steve Gerace