Chabot Football Passes Test In Opening Win

HAYWARD — Opponents of the Chabot College football team better get ready for a track meet when they face the Gladiators this season.
The Gladiators produced a spectacular debut of their fast-paced spread offense, racking up 559 yards of total offense in their 41-24 season-opening victory over College of the Siskiyous on Saturday.
“It works wonders,” said Chabot coach Eric Fanene about the offense. “We spread it out and we can throw it to anybody on any given play.”
Gladiators quarterback Kekoa Turangan completed 31 of 44 attempts for 431 yards and two touchdowns in the victory.
“I love it,” said Turangan about the new offense. “We pass more and we’re moving the ball down the field more efficiently.”
Damien Moun grabbed 12 of those passes for 157 yards, including touchdowns of 19 and 28 yards.
Fanene is quite familiar with the offense from his days as a player and coach at Santa Rosa Junior College under head coach Keith Simons. Fanene was Chabot’s offensive coordinator the beginning of this year.
“In spring, we started installing it. Marcus (Blacksher Jr.) came on as my quarterback coach and he showed a lot of promise, and there were some switches on the defense, so I went back to defense,” Fanene said. “I’m committed to this offense, Marcus came in and said he could do it … he is the O-coordinator now. So we switched it over.”
On Saturday, Chabot scored touchdowns on its first three possessions to grab a 20-6 lead at the end of the first quarter. The first two touchdowns were one-yard Ismael Sanchez runs set up by long passes. The first was a 50-yard bomb from Turangan to Damani Burrell, who beat two defenders. The second one was a short pass from Turangan to Jeremiah Crum, who sped past defenders for a 24-yard gain to the 1-yard-line.
The third Chabot touchdown came via a short pass from Turangan to Moun, who twirled past a defender then tip-toed his way down the left sideline for the final five yards of a 19-yard reception.
But Siskiyous (0-1) then tried to mount a comeback.
The Eagles narrowed the deficit to 20-12 with two minutes, 50 seconds left in the second quarter on a 13-yard pass from Hunter Davis to Karson Boschma. But the extra-point attempt was blocked by Chabot’s Robert Porter, who also had a sack earlier in the drive.
Siskiyous came within two points, at 20-18, in the third quarter on an 11-yard TD pass from Davis to Gannon Jeter. But Davis’ two-point conversion attempt fell incomplete as Chabot’s Maake Tuulakitau blanketed the intended receiver.
That would be as close as the Eagles would get. Chabot answered immediately by marching 82 yards for a score, capped by a six-yard keeper by Turangan on an excellent run-pass option. Mark Vargas’ PAT kick gave Chabot a 27-18 advantage in the third quarter.
Chabot increased its lead to 34-18 with less than 10 seconds left in the third quarter on a 28-yard pass from Turangan to Moun, who made a great open-field move to score, and a Vargas PAT kick.
The Gladiators’ final touchdown was set up by a 53-yard pass from Turangan to Sanchez, who finished with six catches for 113 yards. Two plays later, Wehye Jaimon ran in from one yard with 9:47 left in the game, and Vargas’ PAT kick gave the Gladiators a 41-18 lead. The drive was set up by a Justus Breston interception.
The Siskiyous players probably had something else on their minds Saturday. KRCR Chico-Redding reported Saturday that the college shared through its Facebook page that due to the weekend’s Mill Fire, the campus at Weed would be closed until Sept. 9 “due to several employees and students being displaced by the fire as well as poor air quality levels” and that the school was currently in an evacuation warning zone.
“It’s tragic what is going on over there,” said Fanene, who said the Siskiyous team left their area earlier Friday and stayed overnight in Sacramento before traveling to Hayward for Saturday’s game. “Thoughts and prayers to them and their families.”
The Gladiators will travel to face Reedley on Sept. 10 at 1 p.m.