Offense, offense, and more offense.
That has been the key to success for the No. 2 Riverside City College football team this season. They are averaging 57.5 points per game and totaling 589.2 yards per game on offense. Both stats lead the California Community College Athletic Association team rankings. The Tigers’ average margin of victory in the regular season was over 35 points.
This juggernaut looks to continue to roll as they enter the Southern California playoffs. The Tigers are three wins away from doing something that has never happened for the football team, going back-to-back.
Riverside starts that quest as they will host San Diego Mesa for round one in their second meeting of the season Nov. 30. The Tigers defeated San Diego Mesa 62-41 Nov. 9.
“We’re putting up points and yards at a prolific rate,” Tigers head coach Tom Craft said.
Tom Craft credits his son and former player, current Tigers offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Kevin Craft for the offense’s success this season.
“He’s a lot younger than I am, has more energy, and relates to the kids well,” Tom Craft said. “His structure and variety of his offense and how he teaches it has never been seen here before.”
The younger Craft who is also the team offensive play-caller, arrived on campus this past spring.
The Tigers’ leader has been the National Southern Conference offensive player of the year redshirt sophomore quarterback Brady Jones. He threw for 3,718 yards and 42 touchdowns while adding another five touchdowns on the ground in the regular season.
“We take it game by game,” Jones said. “Every week is another game in which we have to do our thing, and we can’t put too much focus on our opponent, so we don’t lose our mindset of what we have to do.”
After a rocky start for the Vista Murrieta product, who threw six interceptions in the team’s first four, Jones has since thrown 32 straight touchdowns without an interception.
“Since I’ve gotten here, the thing Brady has really improved on is his decision-making, accuracy, and timing,” Kevin Craft said. “Those three things are the difference in high-level quarterback play.”
Jones’ top targets have been freshman Dominic Cox and sophomore Jackson Owens. Both wideouts sit atop the SCFA leaderboard for receiving yards this season and earned first-team all-conference honors. Cox is a shifty receiver who makes up for his 160-pound frame with his big play ability with yards after the catch. Owens, on the other hand, uses all of his 6’2 frame to his advantage in one-on-one matchups.
“It’s fun having those guys,” Jones said. “I just got to get them the ball and let them do the rest.”
The Tigers have not just been an air raid offense. The ground game averaged nearly 200 yards per game. Five different backs have found the endzone multiple times this season with a trio of sophomores leading the pack. Devyne Pearson and Andrew Branch have handled most of the workload going down the field, while Brandon McMasters has been the lead man in the red zone.
“We have a committee of running backs and every single one of them can start,” Kevin Craft said. “They’re all tough runners, fast, and can catch the ball out of the backfield.”
“The most impressive thing is how well they pick up the blitz,” he added. “I know we throw the ball a lot but we’re in the top of rushing as well because it opens the field up.”
The lone stain on the Tigers’ record came in a week two loss to Golden West on the road. The ongoing wildfires in the surrounding area marred that week’s practice.
“We didn’t practice for two days,” Tom Craft said on the Golden West loss. “We came out real flat, and I didn’t have them prepared.”
“We played the worst game of the 14 seasons we’ve been here, and we lost by a point,” he added. “But it was good for us. It woke us up.”
On the other side of the ball, the Riverside defense has done its job allowing 25.5 points per game but has struggled against upper-echelon teams such as San Diego Mesa and El Camino, allowing over 40 points in each game.
“We’ve got to get off the field on third down,” Tom Craft said. “Third and long seems to be our Achilles heel.”
The leaders on the defensive line have been sophomores Peter Eyabi and Esaia Bogar while sophomore linebacker Ju’wuan Nickson has dominated the trenches. Each man has recorded seven or more sacks this season. Bogar took home NSC defensive player of the year.
“That loss to Golden West taught us that we aren’t invincible,” Bogar said. “It humbled us and ever since then, we’ve been working our butts off.”
Tom Craft’s answer to sustaining a strong defense?
“Going against our offense,” he said.
Another continuous problem for RCC this season has been special teams. The unit allowed a kickoff return touchdown in week 10 against San Diego Mesa and nearly allowed another the next week against Fullerton College but the runner was brought down inside the five-yard line.
The Tigers have rotated various kickoff specialists but have been unable to find someone who can consistently kick the ball near the endzone to prevent giving up crucial field positions. In the playoffs, where every mistake is magnified the special teams unit will need to sharpen up if the Tigers anticipate another run at a state title.
“We have the resilience and can overcome adversity, which a lot of people around the country can’t do,” Tom Craft said.
RCC football public address announcer Leon “Pep” Culpepper calls Riverside “the greatest city in America.” The Tigers are three wins from hoisting another state championship trophy and laying claim to being the greatest junior college football team in the nation again.
