Yuba's defense shows why its among state's best
Yuba College’s mantra has been the same over the years and remains pretty simple – play strong defense, have good special teams and run the football.
So far this season, that philosophy has worked to perfection.
Riding another suffocating effort from their defensive unit, the 49ers rolled to their third straight victory to open the season Saturday night by bullying their way past Sacramento City College 14-7 at home.
The 49ers entered the game with the No. 2 ranked defense in the state and showed why all night long by limiting the Panthers to a mere 197 yards of total offense while forcing five turnovers.
And while the offense had trouble moving the ball at times, the 49ers used field position and two long touchdowns to improve their record to 3-0.
“We knew coming in that it was going to be ugly because both teams like to run the ball,” Yuba coach Ted Hoal said. “Our mindset was to manage the game, don’t put ourselves in a bad situation and let the defense play.”
That’s exactly what they did.
Locked in a scoreless tie after 30 minutes, Yuba finally got on the scoreboard when running back Juan Johnson broke free for a 59-yard touchdown run on the first play of the second half. Johnson actually took the handoff in the middle of the field, but the Seattle native made a quick cutback to his left and raced down the sideline untouched to put the 49ers up 7-0.
The touchdown scamper was exactly the big play his team was waiting for and it allowed Yuba’s sideline to relax and play their game.
“We talked about stepping up and making plays,” Hoal said, “and the first play of the second half it was our running back who stepped up.”
The 49ers added to their lead later in the third period when Sutter High grad Jon Garcia rolled to his left and threw a back-side post to John Worthy, who caught the ball in stride and raced in for a beautiful 76-yard scoring strike.
That proved to be more than enough points for Yuba’s defense, which out-hit and out-muscled the Panthers all night long. The 49ers nearly held the Panthers scoreless, but Sac City’s Dominic Carmazzi tossed a 13-yard TD pass to Chase Zamora with 1:41 left to avoid the shutout.
“We just focus on taking it one play at a time and go 100 percent with intensity,” said outside linebacker Earnest Norman, who led the charge with 21⁄2 sacks and a forced fumble. “It would’ve been nice to get the shutout, but we can’t take plays off. It shows we still need improvement.”
Gregory Williams and Sutter grad Cameron Brown each had an interception, and Tyrone Grove, Nathaniel Morris and Zach Vallejo each recovered a fumble for Yuba, which entered the game ranked No. 13 in Northern California. The Panthers were ranked No. 15.
“I told the guys that big-time players make big-time plays,” Hoal said. “In the second half, we had more guys make plays than they did.”
The 49ers will host their third straight home game next Saturday when they welcome in College of the Siskiyous. Kickoff is slated for 1 p.m.
