Tokay tamed by other Tigers
Johnny Craggs found room to run in an early drive to help his Tokay High football team draw first blood.
But Patterson running backs Nate Garcia and Jordan Imada created many ways to score early and often as Patterson soundly defeat Tokay 51-12 in the season opener for both teams at the Grape Bowl on Friday. Both schools have Tigers as their mascots.
On its second offensive possession in the first quarter, Tokay (0-1), which was in Patterson territory on its first offensive drive but forced to punt thanks to Patterson’s defense, was looking to get back into its opponents’ side of the field. Taking the hand-off from Tokay quarterback Chase Howell on the first play after a punt return, Craggs rocketed 47 yards to the Patterson 3-yard line.
Two plays later, Craggs scored on a 4-yard run with 7:47 left. The extra-point kick missed, but gave Tokay a short-lived 6-0 lead.
“Johnny did a good job,” said Tokay coach Michael Holst. “He took a lot of reps this week.”
Then Patterson (1-0) took over the rest of the game.
Garcia tied the game at 6-6 with 6:15 left in the quarter on an 11-yard run up the middle. The Tigers’ extra-point opportunity also missed.
Patterson took a 13-6 lead with 4:09 in the quarter when Garcia scored his second touchdown on a 5yard jaunt. Moses Ruelas kicked the extra-point. At the beginning of the second quarter, Ruelas booted a 40-yard field goal that pushed the Tigers’ lead to 166.
The visiting Tigers had a 1-2 punch in their backfield. Imada scored on a 48-yard run with 6:52 left in the second quarter to make it 23-6.
“Our offensive line, they’ve got the experience,” said Patterson coach Rob Cozart. “They work hard at practice. We focused on a good start on the running game. That’s what we ultimately wanted to do.”
Patterson, which mixed up different offensive looks in the game, made it 30-6 when Imada scored on a 3-yard as the left running back coming out of
the Tigers’ wishbone formation.
The visiting Tigers’ defense kept Tokay’s offense in check in the second quarter. Tokay only reached Patterson’s territory once out of five chances. Bad snaps on punts also put Patterson in good field position for its touchdowns.
“We can’t have two bad snaps on punts,” Holst said. “You’re just giving away possessions.”
Patterson made it 43-6 by the end of the third quarter. Imada and Garcia scored on runs of 4 and 3 yards respectively.
Tokay scored its final touchdown toward the end of the fourth quarter, which already had a running clock. Sophomore wide receiver Joseph Fillippini hauled in a 26-yard pass from Howell to make it 4312. Tokay’s 2-point conversion, on a run, was stopped just short of the goal line.
Patterson added its final touchdown on Tokay’s kickoff after its final touchdown. Paul Mendoza scored on a 76-yard kickoff return. The visiting Tigers also went, and failed, at the 2-point conversion.
“We’ve got to get better,” Holst told his team after the game. Then he added, “We’ve got to retool and come back next week.”
In the junior varsity game, Patterson posted a 34-6 win over Tokay (0-1).