Laney advances to state championship!

The Laney College football team advanced to its first-ever state championship game with a 24-7 victory over Fresno City College in the Northern California Regional title game that was played Nov. 24 in Oakland.

The second-seeded Eagles (10-2) will play Ventura College (11-1) for the California Community Colleges Athletic Association championship on Saturday, Dec. 8, at Hughes Stadium at Sacramento City College. Game time is 1 p.m.

This is the first time both at-large qualifiers have advanced to the state title game. The second-seeded Pirates upset previously unbeaten Riverside College 31-21 to win the Southern California Regional on Nov. 24.

Laney finished second to College of San Mateo in the National Bay 6 Conference, but shut out the Bulldogs 14-0 in a NorCal Regional semifinal game on Nov. 17 at Cabrillo College in Aptos. That game was scheduled to be played at Laney, but was moved due to poor air quality.

In the game against Fresno, Laney jumped ahead of the Rams 7-0 when quarterback Jordon Brookshire (Cardinal Newman High School-Santa Rosa) scored on a 2-yard run with 1:52 left in the first quarter.

The Eagles went 50 yards in seven plays for the score. Big plays in the drive were a Brookshire 18-yard run to the Fresno 32 and a 10-yard run by John McDonald (Lincoln HS-Stockton) that put the ball on the Rams’ 8-yard line.

After FCC tied the score at 7-7, Laney went ahead for good when Balewa Byrd (John Swett HS) fell on a fumble in the end zone with 2:38 left in the first half. The Eagles led 14-7 at the half.

The Eagles extended the lead to 17-7 with 12:00 left in the third quarter when Isaak Parada (Arroyo HS) kicked a 25-yard field goal. The opportunity came when FCC fumbled a punt and the Eagles took over at the Rams’ 9.

Laney’s final score came when running back Harold Tidwell (Concord HS) capped an 11-play, 65-yard drive with a 1-yard scoring run. Big plays on the drive included a 14-yard run by McDonald and a 13-yarder by Brookshire.

The Eagles gained 327 yards in total offense. McDonald had the best individual game—102 yards rushing on 16 carries. Brookshire had 46 yards on 11 carries and a touchdown.

The Laney defense held the Rams to 70 yards rushing and 245 overall. Linebacker Armani Turner-Jenkins (Berkeley HS) finished with 11 tackles (7 solo). Linebacker Jahari Kay  (San Leandro) had seven tackles (3 solo) as did Jack Lutz (Granada HS). Turner-Jenkins also had a sack and a tackle-for-loss (DFL). Kay had a half-sack and one TFL; Lutz was credited with one TFL.

In all, the Eagles defense was credited with 10 TFL, good for 67 yards in losses.

NOTES: Ticket prices are as follows:

$12 general admission

$8 general admission (seniors 60+, children 12-under, students, faculty and staff (with ID)

$4 CIF Special

Free: First responders (fire, police, etc.)

THERE WILL BE NO ADVANCE TICKET SALES

TV: Eleven Sports Network [National Broadcast: Direct TV—623 (HD), Verizon FiOS—597 (HD), AT&T U-verse 1665]

ONLINE: BAOSN [http://baosn.tv/]

PARKING: SAC CITY [$10 per vehicle]

By Scott A. Strain, Laney College Sports Information

Laney College Wins at Santa Rosa Junior College

Quarterback Jordon Brookshire threw for 312 yards and accounted for five touchdowns as the Laney Eagles football team scored 35 points in the second half to come from behind and defeat Santa Rosa Junior College 42-35 at Santa Rosa High School on Oct. 27.

The Eagles (6-2, 2-1 in the National Bay 6 Conference) scored five touchdowns in the second half to erase a 17-7 halftime deficit against the Bears Cubs (5-3, 1-2).

Laney remains tied with College of San Mateo and City College of San Francisco for the conference lead and travels to Pleasant Hill on Friday, Nov. 2, to play Diablo Valley College in a 7 p.m. game.

Laney’s only score in the first half came on Brookshire’s 2-yard run with 8:54 left in the first quarter. It was a homecoming of sorts for the Laney QB; Brookshire graduated from Cardinal Newman High School in Santa Rosa and played for SRJC for half a season.

The Eagles’ first touchdown in the third quarter came with 12:34 left when Brookshire threw a 35-yard scoring pass to Angelo Garrett (McClymonds HS).

Two more scores wiped out the Bear Cubs’ lead in the period. Running back Harold Tidwell (Concord HS) scored on a 28-yard run with 7:23 left and Brookshire made the score 27-24 on an 11-yard run with 23 seconds left in the quarter.

The Eagles added two more scores in the fourth quarter, just enough to withstand a SRJC comeback. Garrett caught a 28-yard touchdown pass from Brookshire with 10:08 left in the game and Brookshire scored his third rushing touchdown on a 4-yard run with 8:24 left.

Brookshire had a mammoth game in front of his hometown fans, completing 29 of 38 passes for 312 yards with two touchdown passes and two interceptions. He also ran for 49 yards on 12 carries and scored three touchdowns.

Tidwell rushed for 113 yards on 12 carries and scored once.  Garrett had eight receptions for 145 yards and two touchdowns. Balewa Byrd (John Swett HS) had 10 catches for 99 yards and Jared Smart (Dublin HS) had eight receptions for 50 yards.

Linebacker Cameron Nathan (Antioch HS) had six tackles (four solo) and 1.5 sacks. Imani Moore (4-1, Dublin HS), Jahari Kay (3-2, San Leandro HS), Jordan Whittley (2-3, Castlemont HS) and Josh Bolding (2-3, Alameda HS) were credited with five tackles apiece.

Moore and Nahshon Wright (James Logan HS) had interceptions and Armani Turner-Jenkins (Berkeley HS) had a sack.

Placekicker Isaak Prada (Arroyo HS) was a perfect 6-for-6 on PAT attempts.

By Scott A. Strain, Laney College Sports Information

NorCal juco roundup: Laney storms past ARC, and more

In a marquee showdown this past Friday night between two of Northern California’s top junior college football programs, Laney College scored the final 28 points of the game against visiting American River to overcome a one-point deficit after the first quarter and roll to the 41-14 victory.

A 56-yard touchdown pass from Jacob Cruz to Nate Thomas gave ARC a 14-13 lead with 27 seconds left in the first quarter, but it was all Eagles from there, as a pair of short touchdown runs in the second quarter from quarterback Jordon Brookshire gave Laney a 27-14 halftime advantage and they continued to dominate play in the second half. The Eagles finished the night with a whopping 547 yards of total offense, while holding American River to just 213 total yards.

Brookshire, who was a league MVP at Cardinal Newman in Santa Rosa before sitting out last season, controlled the game with his arm and legs for Laney. The dual-threat signal-caller completed 17-of-23 passes for 258 yards and two touchdowns, while rushing for 46 yards and two scores. His effort was complemented by a big night on the ground from John McDonald, who ran for 122 yards and one touchdown each rushing and receiving.

“It always feel good to win, especially against a strong opponent, but that game is over now and we just need to be ready for the next one and take it one step at a time,” Brookshire said. “Even with my own performance, there were mistakes that I made, things for me to improve on and correct before the next game.”

McDonald’s 20-yard scoring run in the first quarter capped an opening statement by the Laney offense, a nine-play, 90-yard drive on the first possession of the game. After American River tied the game on a one-yard touchdown pass from Cruz to Logan Paulson, the Eagles regained the advantage on a 29-yard pass from Brookshire to Jared Smart (Dublin HS), who had eight catches for 153 yards.

Dior Walker (Deer Valley-Antioch) also had a big night receiving for Laney, with four catches for 70 yards. Linebacker Cameron Nathan (Antioch) led the defense with eight tackles, while Jahari Kay (San Leandro) made his presence felt with four tackles, including a tackle for a loss, and a sack. Armani Turner-Jenkins (Berkeley) had five total tackles, while Derrick Quesada (John Swett) rounded out a strong performance by the linebackers with another four tackles, including a tackle for a loss.

Laney improved to 2-0 with the win, while ARC fell to 1-1.