DELTA COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Delta’s Alec Von Alvesleben tumbles after catching a pass from Phillip Kimble with Siskiyous’ Travis Hall defending during the second half Saturday at DeRicco Field. CALIXTRO ROMIAS/THE RECORD
Record Sports Editor
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STOCKTON — Delta’s football team was within a point of tying College of the Siskiyous when Joel Chavez lined up for an extra point.
But as the Eagles’ Donovan Robinson picked up the ball after it had been blocked and raced nearly 90 yards to his end zone, giving his team two points, the air escaping Delta’s sails almost was audible.
The Mustangs’ kicking game failures, their inability to consistently run the football, protect quarterback Phillip Kimble or convert scoring opportunities contributed to Saturday’s 36-23 home-opening loss at DeRicco Field.
“That is the frustrating part of it,” Delta coach Gary Barlow said. “We had some opportunities to really gain momentum early in the game. The defense got some takeaways, offense had some short fields, and we got the ball into the scoring area often and didn’t come out with points, either with problems in the kicking game or we just didn’t execute.”
Tywayne Ario-Adams’ 3-yard run brought Delta (1-1) within 24-23 with 5:23 left in the third quarter. Robinson’s return of the blocked extra point made it 26-23. Delta’s ensuing drive stalled at the Eagles’ 14, but the Mustangs came away with nothing when Chavez’s potential tying field goal went wide left.
In the second quarter, trailing 17-14, the Mustangs drove to the Siskiyous’ 1-yard line. After being stuffed for no gain on second down, Delta hurriedly changed personnel with the play clock nearing zero. Barlow elected not to call a timeout, and the ensuing run went for minus-2 yards. The Mustangs again came away with nothing when Chavez’s 20-yard field goal attempt was blocked.
“We certainly could have (called a time out),” Barlow said. “We got the people out there and felt like we had time to get it done. You go back and look at the film and find areas where you could have done things differently or improve upon it.”
On the ensuing possession, Siskiyous traveled 80 yards in six plays, with Goa Mayak’s 16-yard touchdown to Donovan Garner extending the Eagles’ lead to 24-14. The Eagles took a 33-23 lead in the fourth when Mayak found Daren Rodrigues wide open for a 29-yard touchdown on fourth-and-7.
“We’ve just got to clear up the errors and the mistakes that we make,” said running back Evan Owens, who unofficially had 40 yards on 12 carries. “They’re easy to fix. We make mental errors, but the mental errors we can fix pretty easily.”
Kimble completed 30 of 48 passes for 312 yards with a 15-yard touchdown to tight end Johnny Wiernicki and two interceptions. Kimble was sacked six times for minus-39 yards. Delta’s Austin Torma intercepted a pass caused by pressure from Christian Gates, and ran 45 yards for a touchdown to tie the game, 7-7.
Mayak threw for 315 yards and three touchdowns, including a 52-yarder to Michael Benton-Ferguson with a play-action fake on the game’s second play.
“Teams know that we’re a running team, but we saw this week they were cover zero and we have great receivers outside,” Mayak said. “All of the linebackers were in, there was no safety below, so we just beat them deep and it worked out.”
Delta plays at 6 p.m. Saturday at American River College.