HAYWARD, Calif. – The No. 23 Shasta College football team used a second-half surge behind freshman running back Jayden Gordon and a stingy defensive effort to pull out a 30-17 road win against Chabot College Saturday.
Gordon rushed for a career-high 119 yards and three touchdowns on 13 carries and added five receptions for 36 yards and his running mate Tyler Boston chipped in 117 total yards and a score. It was the first road win against Chabot in three tries and Shasta has now won back-to-back meetings against the Gladiators.
Shasta (2-1), which had to postpone the prior week's game against Sequoias due to campus being evacuated from the Fawn Fire, found the end zone on its opening drive of the game. Boston's 51-yard catch from Toren Tuttle set up Gordon's 5-yard touchdown run and capped a four-play drive in less than 2 minutes.
But the mistakes compounded after the score, turning the ball over four times in the next five possessions. The first of two Tuttle interceptions was at the goal line and Gordon fumbled while approaching the red zone at the end of a 16-yard run. However, Shasta's defense didn't allow any points off turnovers and only trailed 14-7 at halftime.
Shasta rebounded in the second half by scoring on four of its first five drives. Gordon's 24-yard reception set up Boston's lone touchdown run of 6-yards to begin the third period to as The Knights' defense forced a three-and-out and Gordon raced 59-yards on the ensuing play to take a 21-14 lead. Shasta took advantage of a Chabot fumble and built a double-digit lead on Dennis Perez's 24-yard field goal late in the third.
Chabot (2-3) cut it to a one score game at 24-17 with a 40-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter but Gordon's 12-yard touchdown run with 7:10 to play gave the Knights breathing room and the defense forced the Gladiators to turn it over on downs on their final two possessions.
Shasta's defense, which entered the game allowing 47 rushing yards per game, improved on its total by limited Chabot to 30 rushing yards on 29 attempts and held the Gladiators to 210 total yards. Anthony Slayton led the Knights with 12 tackles, 2.5 for a loss, and their lone sack. Aiden Allsop-Anderson pitched with nine tackles and Larry Polk had six tackles. Noah Benson intercepted a pass and Lucas Cloyd recovered a fumble.
Tuttle completed 17-of-24 passes for 246 yards, connecting with Mark Ward Jr. for a 42-yard catch. Josiah Graham hauled in two passes for 41 yards and Cameron Williams caught four passes for 29 yards.
Shasta plays at West Hills Coalinga on Saturday for a 1 p.m. kickoff.
GAME NOTES
Shasta's defense ranks third in the state in rushing yards allowed per game (41.3) and 10th in the state in yards allowed per game (266.7) … Tyler Boston moved into seventh place in school history for career rushing yards with 1,418, passing Demarcus Ingram's mark of 1,400 set in 2000-01 … Boston is second in the state in rushing with 147.7 yards per game and is fifth in the state in all-purpose yards per game (176.3).
NORCAL CONFERENCE STANDINGS
#23 Shasta 0-0, 2-1
Sierra 0-0, 2-2
#18 American River 0-0, 2-3
#14 Butte 0-0, 2-3
Siskiyous 0-0, 1-4
Santa Rosa 0-0, 0-5
*Rankings dated Sept. 27
Photo Credit: Mike Daly