What An Opener: 80 Points!

(Story by Phil Jensen)
The Chabot College football team dominated Cabrillo from literally the first play of Saturday’s season opener.
The Gladiators’ Jalen Frenchwood took the opening kickoff 85 yards for a touchdown and Chabot never looked back in an 80-13 romp, setting a school record with 80 points.

The Gladiators scored the game’s first five touchdowns in the first half, in which its starters were out of the game by halfway through the third quarter.
“We did some good things. We’re obviously competitive, played hard, played physical,” said Chabot second-year coach Brett McMurray about the game at Mt. Eden High-Hayward. “I’m proud of them overall. … We’re a good football team. We did a good job getting strong in the offseason.”
In a long game which lasted more than four hours, Chabot’s victory was definitely a team effort. Nine Gladiators scored touchdowns. Twelve players ran the ball offensively for Chabot. The Gladiators scored touchdowns in all three phases of the game (offense, defense, special teams) and forced five turnovers. Chabot solidly put last year’s 1-9 record in the rearview mirror.
Perhaps a catalyst for this victory was the opening play. Frenchwood saw an opening and bolted down the right side of the field to immediately give Chabot the edge.
“I told myself two weeks ago … first kickoff of the season, I’m going to score,” said Frenchwood, a sophomore who graduated from Washington-Fremont. “Everyone blocked for me perfectly and it was amazing.”
Another Chabot special teams score occurred when Salesi Moala grabbed a blocked extra point attempt and ran 70 yards for two points and a 36-6 Chabot lead in the second quarter.
“I was really excited about the special teams play,” McMurray said. “We’ve harped on it. It’s something we take pride in.”
Chabot took a 13-0 lead on a three-yard run by Rico Salazar, ending an 11-play drive. On Chabot’s next series, quarterback Deonte Faison fired a dart to Joseph Tarin in the end zone for a 32-yard touchdown and a 20-0 lead about halfway through the first quarter, Tarin, a Salesian graduate finished with a team-high four catches for 100 yards.
Four plays into Cabrillo’s next possession, Malachi Reeves picked off a pass and ran 60 yards for a touchdown. A seven-yard run by Inoke Stotler and a point-after touchdown kick by Jacob Lewis gave Chabot a 34-0 lead with two minutes, 56 seconds left in the second quarter.
The 5-foot-10, 227-pound Stotler was impressive, often dragging defenders for extra yards or juking them into missing tackles. The freshman from Hayward finished with a game-high 129 yards rushing and two touchdowns.
After Moala’s special-teams block return gave Chabot a 36-6 halftime lead, The Gladiators continued to find the end zone. Stotler’s second touchdown was a 49-yard run in the third quarter with 9:41 to go. Monty Turner added a two-yard touchdown run in the quarter and Salazar produced two points on a safety for a 52-13 Chabot lead not even halfway through the quarter.
Chabot’s fourth-quarter touchdowns were a 13-yard-pass from AJ Rich to Frenchwood, a 26-yard throw from Rich to Demarion Boyd, a five-yard run by Willie Johnson, and a 45-yard run by Jovany Moreno Gutierrez.
Besides Reeves’ pick-six, Chabot also produced turnovers on fumble recoveries by Ilalakimi Malafu and Leki Vaka, and interceptions by Kali Moa and Leland Breaux.
Defensively, Chabot limited Cabrillo to 83 rushing yards in the game and only 50 total yards in the second half.
The Gladiators travel to face Hartnell-Salinas on Sept. 5 at 1 p.m.