By Steve Gerace
It's much too early in the season to make any definitive statements about the success of new football coach Matt Sayre's rebuilding program at College of the Siskiyous. But it was clear Saturday afternoon in Weed that the 2004 Eagles have some big play-makers.
The Eagles had four interceptions on their way to a 41-12 win over Laney of Oakland, and Alex Gaston ran for 124 yards on 16 carries, not counting his 60-plus yard TD run that was called back by a penalty the Eagles' coaches still haven't been able to find on the game film.
One of the interceptions was returned 81 yards for a touchdown by freshman cornerback James Carroway, who dodged, darted and danced his way down the sideline, bringing the hometown crowd to a standing roar.
"It looked like it was in slow motion," said one sideline observer.
"He broke 17 tackles on that return," coach Sayre said. "We counted them on the films."
The Eagles improved their record to 2-2 and are just two or three plays away from being 4-0.
After a tough day against a stout Butte defense a week earlier, freshman quarterback Travis Newman completed 10 of 16 pass attempts against Laney for 144 yards, including touchdown passes to wide receivers Bobby Olive and Brandon Brammer.
Olive reached back while in the air in the end zone to make his 11 yard TD grab late in the first half; Brammer was wide open over the middle for a 31 yard score early in the fourth quarter - the Eagles' final score of the game.
Gaston had two touchdown runs, including a 63 yard bolt up the middle that gave the Eagles their first lead at 13-10. He also had a 6 yard touchdown run late in the first quarter.
The Eagles totaled 288 yards rushing while holding Laney to 63 yards rushing, 62 yards passing and 10 first downs, 6 on penalties.
Tight end Jason Zarate caught 3 passes for 53 yards.
Carroway, Adam Diaz, Gregor Kodella and Bryant Stokes of Mount Shasta had interceptions.
Daniel Burnett, Ryan Taylor and Kodella had quarterback sacks, and the defense was also spearheaded by linebackers Ryan Clark and Jarred Kuhl.
As Sayre did during his years as offensive coordinator at Southern Oregon University, he has the Eagles running a balanced offense with nearly an identical split between rushing and passing yards.
In their first four games of 2004, the Eagles have rushed for 589 yards and passed for 597.
"We want to be as balanced as we can, then hit them with big plays," Sayre said of his offensive philosophy.
The defense meanwhile has held its foes to 350 rushing yards in four games, and one of those foes was Butte, a high powered running team that defeated the Eagles 9-7 a week earlier.
To go with their three sacks against Laney, the Eagles had 9 tackles for loss on running plays and limited Laney to 125 total yards on 59 plays, an average of under 3 yards per play.
Sayre said the Eagles don't have a lot of defensive linemen, but the ones they do have "are gutsy players," including sophomores Taylor, Burnett and James MacCormack.
"We're not very big up front, but we're quick," says Siskiyous defensive coordinator Phil Maas.
"They played their hearts out," Sayre said of the defensive linemen, who took on Laney without 300 pound starting nose guard Edison Robertson, still recovering from an injury suffered against Butte.
Sayre and Maas both praised defensive line coach Eric Young for his work this season.
"He's turning good, solid players into great players," Sayre said of Young.
Kuhl, Kodella and Clark give the Eagles good speed in their linebacking corps, while the starters in the secondary, Carroway, Diaz, Marquis Walker and returning sophomore Derrian Duncan "are better athletically than we've been in the secondary in a long time," according to Maas.
Sayre said the Eagle secondary gives the offense a better test every day in practice than it's been getting in the games each Saturday.
With 8 new starters on defense, Maas said the Eagles are young, but their job is being made somewhat easier by the improving play of the offense.
"We haven't been bad defensively in previous years," Maas said, "but this year, because the offense is getting better, we have more margin for error on defense. We made huge mistakes early on defense and special teams against Laney."
Those mistakes, including a strip and run for Laney's only touchdown on a punt return, put the Eagles in an early 10-0 hole.
But, other than a safety late in the game, it was all Eagles after that.
Stokes, a freshman from Mount Shasta, made his interception on his first play ever as a college defensive back.
He, fellow former Bears Fred Erickson and Travis Amesbury, and Weed High School graduate Zhack Thomas, have all now seen time on special teams and defense.
Late in Saturday's game, Stokes came in at cornerback and "did exactly what he was supposed to do," Maas said. "It was a pump and go. He stayed in perfect position and made a great play."
Penalties made it onto the Eagles' still-needs-improvement list after the Laney game.
Siskiyous was penalized 15 times, and several of those were personal fouls.
"We keep shooting ourselves in the foot," Sayre said.
Against Laney, at least, the Eagles' feet were bullet-proof. But they probably don't want to test that protection that often as the season progresses. A few too many foot injuries could negate all that big play potential.
After three homes games in a row, the Eagles take to the road this Saturday to face Marin. They'll then have a bye week before opening conference play.
