Chabot Defense Finishes The Job

By Phil Jensen

HAYWARD — The Chabot College football team forced three turnovers and produced three sacks in the first 58 minutes of its American-Pacific 7 Conference opener against visiting San Joaquin Delta on Saturday.
But the Gladiators defense saved its biggest play for the final two minutes.
Chabot’s JJ Sporleder scooped up a Delta fumble and returned it two yards into the end zone for the eventual winning touchdown in Chabot’s improbable 23-19 comeback victory at Mt. Eden High School.
“It all came down to just reading my key, what my coaches always tell me, just read your key and do your job,” said Sporleder, a 6-foot-4, 235-pound defensive end from San Jose. He scored with approximately 1:55 left in the game.
“We’re just building a culture. I think the culture showed through at the end,” said Chabot coach Brett McMurray, whose team trailed Delta 16-2 at the end of the third quarter. “We talked about the more disciplined team winning the game, and I think as the game went on, we stayed disciplined. … I was disappointed at the start, but I’m happy with the finish.”
Chabot improved to 4-2 overall, while San Joaquin Delta fell to 4-2. The Gladiators travel to face Los Medanos (4-2, 1-0) on Oct. 17 in a 1 p.m. game. Chabot, Los Medanos and Siskiyous are in a tie for first place. The balanced conference has five teams at 4-2 overall.
Delta held the upper hand for most of the first three quarters Saturday. Chabot took a 2-0 lead on a tackle for a safety by Henry Supnet in the first quarter, but then Delta tied the game with a safety of its own and took the lead on a two-yard touchdown by Jordan Duncan in the second quarter. Another short run for a touchdown early in the third quarter helped give Delta a 16-2 advantage.
But Chabot’s defense clamped down. It stopped Delta on its next possession on the Chabot 21 before a 38-yard field goal attempt went wide right. Delta then had a short field after a Chabot turnover, but the Gladiators defense ended the threat when Malachi Reeves grabbed an interception in the end zone nearly halfway through the quarter.
Perhaps the key play of the game occurred with 13:01 left in the fourth quarter. Quarterback Deontae Faison faked a handoff, then saw that receiver Joseph Tarin beat his defender down the middle of the field. Faison fired a rocket to Tarin for a 58-yard touchdown, and suddenly Chabot was back in the game.
“We were kind of going through it in a walk-through, so we never really got 100-percent speed at it. But we did it and it worked, so it was great,” said Tarin about the set play for the touchdown.
Delta responded with an 11-play drive that ended with a 34-yard field goal by William Henderson to give his team a 19-9 lead with 7:30 to go. But Chabot proceeded to dominate the rest of the game.
First, the Gladiators drove 70 yards in seven plays, capped by an 11-yard end-around from Tarin, a Salesian-Richmond graduate. The important point-after-touchdown kick by Hayward product Jacob Lewis narrowed Delta’s lead to 19-16 with 4:02 remaining.
Delta was content to use the clock after that, taking 1:51 to run three plays. Then on a third-and-22 play from the Delta 11-yard line, Sporleder grabbed the fumble well behind the line of scrimmage and proceeded into the end zone for the winning score. Delta’s final drive stalled at the Chabot 44.
Chabot’s defense also forced turnovers in the second quarter (a fumble recovery by Salesi Moala and an interception by Oziah Clement). Offensively, the Gladiators received a game-high 121 yards rushing in the game by Monty Turner as well as three receptions for 24 yards. Sefa Stephens added three catches for 30 yards.