By Joshua Vasquez, Courier Staff Writer
The James Logan Mighty Colts played their third non-league game of the season this past Friday, against the Castro Valley High Trojans.
The Colts, who played their first home game of the season last week against Freedom High Eagles (Oakley, California), looked to gain positive momentum going into the remainder of the season after losing to Freedom 55-6. Logan made costly errors throughout the game turning the ball over 5 times, including late in the game on Freedom’s 2 yard line.
After the game, senior RB and captain, Kesean Cohen, stated, “I feel like we just didn’t take care of the ball and capitalize on our opportunities. We gave them that game and I truly believe we were the more physical team; we just didn’t execute when we needed too. It’s behind us now though, and our mindset now is on Castro Valley.”
Castro Valley, already 2-1 this season, was coming off a big win against Newark Memorial 61-34. With a tough to beat Wing-T Offense, the odds were in their favor. When asked what their most difficult task this week would be, Junior LB Kimo Fukofuka said “We all have to do our own individual jobs this week, whether it’s the D-line fighting pressure and not getting trapped or myself and the backers making the correct reads and triggering. We all have to do our part and play team defense in order to be successful.”
The entire team was looking to bounce back and was expecting a tough fought game as both sides were down men with their already unusually small football rosters. “This game is going to be decided by whoever taps out first and it can’t be us. We have to keep pounding away at them for four whole quarters. That’s our challenge to each other […] how long can we fight for four quarters without showing fatigue. I’m just excited to show everyone who we really are and what we can do as an entire team”, said Junior OL/DL, Solomon Unga. From how composed and confident they were throughout the week, it was clear that this game was going to be an exciting one.
Logan jumped to an early lead within a minute into the 1st quarter: Junior QB, Irvin Garnica, hooked up with standout WR/DB, Rejzohn Wright, for a 31 yard TD. “It was important that we started the game off strong”, said Garnica, who threw for an impressive 5 TD’s and over 200 yards. “We needed to get off to a quick start, whether it was on offense or defense. We had to punch them in the mouths first.” However, the Trojans would respond, scoring back-to-back TD’s, putting Logan down 14-7 going into 2nd quarter. After the Colts were stopped yet again on offense, things seemed to be getting out of hand–until Rejzohn Wright revived the momentum with a fantastic pick-6 off the Trojans QB, tying the game.
The Colts defense put up big time stops on 3rd down, keeping the Trojan offense off the field and giving Logan’s offense more opportunities.
Senior RB, Tariq Jabbaar, had a huge game for Logan, complementing a stellar O-Line. Jabbaar ran all over the field, typically gaining 10-15 yards each carry. “Tariq ran his butt off tonight. He carried a big workload and he ran until he had nothing left. I’m proud of the way he played tonight.” said RB/DB Coach, Jeffrey Prothro. Jabbaar would finish the game with over 100 yards rushing, including a 46 yard TD-pass after breaking multiple tackles and running over several defenders.
Junior WR/DB, Ta’ir Brooks, was another standout player. Brooks caught 2 tough TD passes in tight coverage, significantly furthering Logan’s lead.
From then on, the game seemed pretty much over. While the Trojans scored twice late in the game, their poor passing game couldn’t keep pace with the Colts offense. In the second half, the Colts controlled ball and the line of scrimmage, running out the clock as well as the Trojans hopes of a comeback.
Logan ended the night with a 41-28 victory, their first win of the season. Players and fans on Logan’s side celebrated wildly, chanting “LOGAAAAAAN!!!” It would cap off to what had been an already enthusiastic night for the entire James Logan Football Family.
The Colts play their next game at Logan this Friday night against rival San Leandro starting at 7:30 PM. The game will be contested for the 880 trophy, which Logan relinquished in a loss to San Leandro last season. “It’s going to be another tough game this week.” said Rejzohn Wright. “We’re done with Castro. Our focus now is on San Leandro and bringing that trophy back home. That’s the goal. Win.”
