Offense, defense propels Tokay to win over West

TRACY — All the Tokay High football team needed was 11 seconds.

That is when the Tigers saw their Tri-City Athletic League game against West went from being a tied contest to taking control at Steve Lopez Stadium. That led to Tokay posting a 32-14 victory over the Wolf Pack, spoiling their homecoming festivities, on Friday night.

The win snapped a four-game losing skid for Tokay (1-3 in the TCAL, 3-6), which scored a combined 13 points during that span. The last time the Tigers tasted victory was on Sept. 15, when they knocked off Chavez 58-40 in a non-league game in Stockton.

The game was tied 7-7 midway in the second quarter. Then Tokay running back Corey Glasgow, who was back in the line-up after missing the last three games with a toe injury, scored the go-ahead touchdown on a 7yard run with 5:17 left in the quarter. Add Naofumi Minato’s extra-point kick, and the Tigers led 14-7.

On the ensuing kickoff, a Wolf Pack player touched the ball but couldn’t control it. But the Tigers’ Nick Elliot found the ball in his hands, which gave Tokay possession at the West 24yard line.

No time wasted by the Tigers on this drive. On the very first play, quarterback Daniel Garlick found wide receiver Joshua Kirchner on a 24-yard pass. The kick hit the uprights, but Tokay took a 20-7 lead.

Tokay scored its final touchdown with 1:08 left in the second quarter when Garlick found Elliot again, this time on a 17-yard reception. That gave the Tigers a 26-7 lead going into halftime.

“Everybody, across the board, did a great job,” said Tokay coach Michael Holst.

Tokay scored its final touchdown when Glasgow crossed the plane on a 3-yard run with 8:42 left in the game.

Prior to the touchdown with 34 seconds left in the third quarter, West scored its final touchdown when Reffell scored on a 1-yard keeper.

Although West showed glimpses of moving the ball in the air, its ground game was hammered by the Tigers’ defense. That led to a lot of negative yards. Tokay would pressure the Wolf Pack’s tight ends and tackles, if not finding an open between linemen to record the negative yards.

“They did a good job, they executed things well,” Holst said. “We tackled very well. A lot of negative yards on their (West’s) end.”

Glasgow and quarterback Daniel Garlick led the Tigers’ offense on

their first drive in the first quarter, as they combined for 85 yards. That included Garlick hitting Elliott on a 24-yard pass up the middle, as Elliott exploded past the Wolf Pack’s linebackers and secondary for the score with 7:43 left in the quarter. Minato booted the extra-point to make it 7-0.

But with three seconds remaining in the quarter, West (0-4 in the TCAL, 1-8) responded when quarterback Yannick Reffell scored on a 2-yard keeper. The Wolf Pack’s drive was rewarded thanks to keeping the Tigers’ offense pinned deep in their territory, which forced a punt and gave West the ball at Tokay’s 23.