The Tigers erupted offensively to earn head coach Kevin Craft his first collegiate, as they beat Long Beach City College 53-30 this past Saturday at Wheelock Stadium.
The Riverside City College football team could not be stopped offensively.
After leading the California Community College Athletic Association team rankings in points per game and yards per play last season, the Tigers look to do the same this season. In 2024, the Tigers would lose a heartbreaker in the Southern California Football Association Championship. Head Coach Tom Craft retired and his son, Kevin Craft, who was the offensive coordinator, was named as the new head coach.
The first points would come from Long Beach City College, as they would kick in a field goal on their opening drive, going up 3-0.
The Tigers immediately answered back with a 2-yard touchdown run from sophomore running back Jonathan Marshall, going up 7-3. The Tigers had all the momentum toward the end of the first half, scoring on five consecutive drives and went up 26-9.
With RCC’s constant penalty flags, dropped passes and mental errors, the Vikings would score two straight touchdowns, cutting the lead to three. “Our team overall has to play cleaner,” Kevin Craft said. “We had a lot of mistakes today that were evident to us as a coaching staff, and we want to clean those up.”
Craft took out freshman Bryan Wilson and put in sophomore Jared Doolittle to start the second half. “We had planned to play multiple quarterbacks; it was kind of what we were thinking we wanted to get a feel for both of those guys,” Craft said. “Both of them played pretty good, and we’ll keep going from there.”
Doolittle lit a spark in the Tigers, as in the second possession of the third quarter, Jared would hit sophomore wide receiver Ross Nickson III for a 30-yard touchdown play. Jared would go on to throw three touchdowns in the second half as Riverside would go on a 27-14 run to end the game.
“It’s a dare I say, surreal moment, it’s awesome, it’s what you dream of ever since you’re a little kid playing college football, with your bros, being able to play in front of your mom and dad and a bunch of fans,” Doolittle said. “RCC offers that, and that’s awesome, because not every junior college has that. It’s definitely a special place to play here.”
Craft, who was visibly upset after the game, told his team that their performance was not perfect and that he knew they could play better. “We’ve got to tune into the film and lock into it,” sophomore running back Marquis Monroe said. “We have to make sure we see what we did wrong and correct it during practice all week.”
Craft is planning on playing both quarterbacks when the Tigers go on the road to battle Golden West College on Sept. 6.
