APTOS – Sophomore running back Demarion Wright ran for a season-high 157 yards and three touchdowns to help lead Coalinga College to a 35-26 triumph at Cabrillo College on Saturday night in both teams' American Golden Coast League opener.
The Falcons won their fourth straight game to improve to 4-2 overall and 1-0 in league play.
"It was a hard-fought road win," said Coalinga head coach Justin Berna. "We knew it was going to be a tough game but with the bye, we had a week and a half to prepare."
Coalinga fell behind early and trailed 13-3 in the second quarter. But the Falcons responded with 26 unanswered points to pull away for the win. Wright started the scoring surge with his three-yard touchdown run just moments before halftime to send Coalinga into the break down 13-9.
The Falcons dominated the third, getting a big 67-yard TD pass from Justyn Delzeit to Marcos Ruiz on their third play of the second half while Wright broke through for another three-yard touchdown. Delzeit tossed his second touchdown, this time to Curtis Rodgers for 29 yards to open the fourth quarter and Coalinga opened up its biggest lead at 29-13.
Cabrillo answered with a pair of late-game touchdowns of their own to cut the Falcons' lead to three points at 29-26 with 2:33 to play. But Wright iced the Coalinga victory with his third and final TD. After the ensuing kickoff, Wright took the handoff on the Falcons' first play and outran the Seahawks for a huge 66-yard touchdown.
Coalinga surprised Cabrillo with an onside kick on the following play and was able to recover the ball. The Falcon ran out the clock to close out the victory.
Wright averaged 5.6 yards on 28 carries for 157 yards while Delzeit completed 16 of 30 passes for 237 yards with a pair of TDs. Rodgers nearly had 100 yards receiving but totaled 97 yards on 6 receptions.
The defense did its part, making big plays when needed most. Coalinga held Cabrillo to 217 yards, totaled 4 sacks and had an interception. Julian Zaragoza had 4 tackles and was in on a sack while Koa Colburn had the interception and 4 tackles as well. Kosuke Nakata led Coalinga with 2 sacks to go along with 3 tackles.
The Falcons will look to extend its winning streak next Saturday (Oct. 18) when they host Hartnell College in a Golden Coast League game at 1 p.m. The college will also celebrate homecoming and will honor its incoming Hall of Fame class at halftime.