FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – September 8, 2008

MENDOCINO COLLEGE, 1000 Hensley Creek Road, Ukiah, CA 95482

Contact: Chris Snyder, Media Assistant
T: 707-468-3098 or 707-489-5699, Fax: 707-467-1023
Email: csnyder@mendocino.edu

File: – MC Football Defeats Hartnell

Mendocino College football opens season with victory

Ukiah, CA – The Mendocino College football team opened the 2008 season with a 22-7 victory over Hartnell College in Salinas this past Saturday.
Hartnell scored on its first drive when Hartnell running back Brendan Bartly rushed for 10 yards and then fumbled, but receiver Chava Josey was able to scoop up the fumble and rumble in from 22 yards.

From that point on, Hartnell’s spread offense was held in check by the Eagle defense all afternoon. Mendocino held Hartnell to 206 yards of total offense, while intercepting five Panther passes and sacking the Panther quarterbacks six times. The Eagle defense also got on the scoreboard in the second half with a safety when they forced an intentional grounding by a Panther quarterback in their own end zone.

Freshman defensive back David Bonotto (Gold Beach, OR.) had three interceptions, while Sophomore Randy Fesser (Vancouver, WA.) had two interceptions. Sophomore linebacker Svante Wright (Camilla, GA) led the Eagle defense with 7.5 tackles.

Hartnell quarterbacks were 13 of 33 for 121 yards and the Mendocino College defense held the Panther rushing attack to just 85 yards.

The Mendocino College offense was able to gain 582 yards of total offense, but stalled out on several drives which limited the Eagles to only 20 points. Mendocino passed for 423 yards and three touchdowns, while also rushing for 159 yards.

Freshman receiver Jerry Boice (Gold Beach, OR) caught two touchdown passes from sophomore quarterback Jacob Laudenslayer (Modesto). Freshman Ricky Roberts (Sacramento) hauled in the other touchdown reception.

Freshman running back Marcus Cooley (Modesto) rushed for 85 yards on 11 carries, while freshmen Stirling Jackson had 85 yards on 18 carries.

Mendocino College had at least seven different players catch passes Saturday afternoon. Sophomore Rafael Valencia (Ceres) and Roberts led the teams with eight receptions each, while Freshman Ilich Solano (Miami, FL) had seven catches for 111 yards.

“It is exciting to start the season off with a win, we cannot lose sight of the fact that we need to get better each week though,” Mendocino College Head Coach Tom Gang said.

Mendocino will have their home opener this Saturday when they host Shasta College (1-0) at 1 p.m. Shasta College defeated Laney College 8 to 6 this past Saturday in Redding.

Created: September 10, 2008 @ 09:52 AM
Last Modified: May 08, 2009 @ 08:26 AM