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By Ricky Holmes / Staff Writer
Tiger time (Dorothea Samuel / Staff Photographer)
By Ricky Holmes / Staff Writer
The Tigers have had an abysmal season thus far and the last home game of the season provided no silver lining to their proverbial dark cloud.
Riverside was routed 34-14 by the Chaffey Panthers to give the Tigers their seventh straight loss.
This loss brings the team’s overall record to one win and eight losses with just one more game on the road to go.
Riverside did win one thing; that being the coin toss.
Even after winning the coin toss, the Tigers elected to kick off to Chaffey so that they would get the ball after halftime.
This move proved to be the wrong one as the Panthers were able to push downfield for 60-yards on seven plays.
In a drive that culminated in a 1-yard touchdown run by Chaffey quarterback, A.J. Springer, to give the Panthers a quick 7-0 lead with 12 and a half minutes remaining in the first quarter.
It looked as though Riverside was going to even up the game on their next possession.
The Tigers used a halfback pass by Ryan Nordbeck to gain 24-yards and get them close to the red zone.
The Panther defense was too formidable, however, and the Tigers were forced to go for what appeared to be an easy field goal.
That easy field goal sadly sailed left and gave Chaffey possession at their own 24-yard line.
It took Chaffey only five plays to benefit from the missed field goal by Riverside.
As Springer connected with Axxel Rivas on a 58-yard touchdown pass to give the Panthers a 14-0 lead.
The Tigers played good defense to open up the second quarter.
The team was able to stop an impressive Chaffey drive that ended in a missed field goal.
Riverside was building up a drive of its own when it was stopped by a fumble by Jela Cleghorne at the Chaffey 44-yard line.
The Panthers were unable to score on the turnover and the score remained 14-0 going into halftime.
After halftime, the Tigers went three and out on their first possession and gave the ball back to Chaffey.
Chaffey didn’t waste much time in scoring.
Springer was able to find Brandon Caldwell on a 30-yard pass to take the Panthers down to the Riverside 5-yard line.
Two plays later, Jahmal Rover was able to punch in a 1-yard run to increase Chaffey’s lead to 21-0.
Riverside was able to find a ray of hope when the Panther’s Springer fumbled at their own 3-yard line.
On the next play, Jeremy Gallard ran it in for a 3-yard touchdown to finally put the Tigers on the board and cut the Panther’s lead to 14 points.
Unfortunately, 14 points would be the closest Riverside would get.
Chaffey opened up the final quarter with a 4-yard touchdown run by Jahmal Rover to extend their lead even further to 28-7.
On the ensuing kick-off, Riverside’s Lester white returned the ball 53-yards.
With that runback, and a personal foul on Chaffey, the ball was spotted on the Panther’s 21-yard line giving the Tigers an excellent opportunity to score.
Riverside’s James Calhoun threw a halfback pass to receiver Tommy Curry to put the team at the 2-yard line.
Two plays later, quarterback Nathan Lamonica ran it in on a bootleg play giving the Tigers another six points.
That was the last time that the Tigers would see the end zone that night.
Chaffey would go on to score once more on a 45-yard touchdown pass to Jahmal Rover to place the final nail in the Tiger’s coffin and end a Halloween night that gave Riverside some tricks but definitely no treats!