TIGERS DOUSE FLAMES IN RIVALRY GAME
Lodi needed just four yards for first down.
But in the end, Tokay’s Joseph Heryford fought back emotions.
The last two minutes of the Tri-City Athletic League and cross-town football rivalry between Tokay and Lodi, provided bone-chilling excitement in the final two minutes of their 45th meeting. In the end, Tokay kept the city championship trophy and knocked Lodi out of a Sac-Joaquin Section playoff berth with a comefrom-behind 19-14 win at the Grape Bowl on Friday. The Tigers have won two in a row against Lodi, with last year’s 20-16 victory.
Marching down the field with 1:41 remaining in the fourth quarter, Lodi (1-4 in the TCAL, 4-6), known for its running game throughout the season, went to the air as quarterback Logan Stout completed 3 of 6 passes for 61 yards. Those passes went to Jake Hayes, who had 31 of those yards, and Trey Reese, as the Flames drove to the Tokay 14-yard line.
“We wanted the ball, control the clock,” said Lodi coach Robert Sperling.
Now facing fourth-and-four at the Tokay 14-yard line, Lodi continued to go in the air. But the ball fell just short of the hands of a Lodi receiver with 51.7 seconds left, which resulted in a turnover and Tokay had players and fans anxiously waiting to swarm onto the Grape Bowl to celebrate the victory.
Heryford, the Tigers’ senior wide receiver and cornerback who had been battling injuries throughout the season, was the hero in this year’s edition of the rivalry game.
Lodi started the fourth quarter with a lengthy offensive drive that ate up time on the clock to 3:36, when its drive stalled at the Tigers’ 45 yard line, and were forced to punt. Most of the Flames’ drive was led by fullback Alfredo Estrada, who had 41 yards on 11 carries during that time.
Getting the ball at its own 18-yard line, Tokay (2-3 in the TCAL, 4-6) went to work behind quarterback Daniel Garlick, who completed five straight passes to running back Cory Glasgow, Heryford and Nick Elliot. That moved the ball to the Flames’ 40-yard line.
Staying in the pocket, Garlick looked to the Tigers’ sidelines and
found an open Heryford, who was running a hitch pattern. Battling cramps in his calves. Heryford caught the ball and appeared to be going out of bounds. But he turned around and ran down the sidelines 40 yards for the go-ahead touchdown with 1:41 left in the game. Tokay opted for the 2-point conversion on a run, but the ball was fumbled short of the goal line but gave the Tigers the 19-14 lead.
“I was cramping up before, I couldn’t even bend my toes,” said Heryford, who had to be helped off the field after a hit on the Tigers’ previous offensive drive.
Tokay coach Michael Holst added, “Sometimes you have to shut up as a coach and let athletes do their thing. I was hoping he would go out of bounds. But sometimes you have to let a guy be a guy. He was a real dude on that play.”
Tokay cut into Lodi’s 14-13 with 3:22 remaining in the third quarter. Thanks to a 30-yard punt return by Glasgow, the Tigers started their offensive drive at the Flames’ 43-yard line. Four plays later, Tiger fullback Nathan Branco plowed his way into the end zone on a 4yard run. But the extra-point kick missed the uprights that kept Lodi ahead by one point.
Lodi scored a touchdown in the first and second quarters for its 14-7 halftime lead. On its first offensive drive of the
game, Lodi saw its reward pay off when Stout found wide receiver Matthew Wright, who made a remarkable catch in the back of the end zone on a 21-yard strike for a 7-0 lead.
An interception by Tokay free safety Nick Elliott set up the Tigers’ offense that tied the game at 7-7 with 7:42 left in the second quarter. Garlick continued his round of completing passes, hitting Elliott, a wide receiver, and another wide out in Chase Howell. One of Garlick’s passes was a 15-yard pass to Elliott for the score.
The Flames’ final touchdown of the game came on the ensuing offensive drive. Moving the ball on run plays, Lodi went to the air as Stout found an open Hayes, who bobbled the ball but held on for a 21-yard score with 4:52 on the clock. Hayes’ extra-point kick made it 14-7.
Heryford fought back tears after the game. But he wasn’t shy about his feelings of Tokay beating Lodi.
“Eliminating Lodi from the playoffs, there’s nothing sweeter than that,” Heryford said.