Grant Feels the Wrath of Reseda

Reseda Coach Joel Schaeffer believes his undefeated Regents belong in a class by themselves defensively and was irritated to find that Grant was listed among the leaders in that category among Valley City teams.

Schaeffer let his team run wild Friday at Grant, coasting to a 52-10 victory, seriously damaging Grant’s status as a defensive power.

Reseda (6-0, 5-0 in league play) scored four touchdowns on offense, two on defense and one on special teams against its Pac 8 rival. The Regents forced seven turnovers and limited Grant to 147 total yards.

“My players take pride in the way they play defense,” Schaeffer said. “One paper had Grant listed as the best defensive team. I heard some grumbling from the players. I told them to just show Grant who is the best defensive club.”

Schaeffer worried about his offense with tailback Ronald Wilkinson sidelined because of a twisted right ankle. But the Regents put Schaeffer’s concerns to rest by scoring touchdowns on their first two possessions.

Quarterback Coley Kyman scored on a one-yard sneak and threw a 12-yard scoring pass to David Wilson 2 1/2 minutes later to put the Regents ahead, 14-0.

Kyman completed 7 of 11 passes for 85 yards.

The two most exciting plays involved wide receiver Sam Edwards. Edwards threw a 54-yard scoring pass to Wilson on a double-reverse option with 14 seconds left before halftime, then ran a punt back 95 yards for a touchdown midway through the third quarter.

Grant stumbled for nine yards in the first half, then lost most of what little offense it had early in the third quarter when quarterback Negil Carmichael left because of a bruised right ankle.

Backup quarterback Nick Fontaine put the Grant offense into the black, completing numerous passes before taking a pounding from the Reseda defense. He scored Grant’s only touchdown on a one-yard run with 4:01 left. Fontaine completed 8 of 17 passes for 151 yards but had 3 passes intercepted.

As the game wore on, Reseda was constantly caught for infractions, angering Schaeffer.

“From this coach’s point of view, when a team gets way ahead, there is suddenly a mysterious amount of flags thrown against them,” Schaeffer said. “I guess the referees subconsciously feel sorry for the other team.”

Trailing, 45-10, in the final three minutes of the game, Grant (4-3, 3-2) moved to Reseda’s one-yard line aided by two Reseda penalties. Schaeffer then sent his first defensive unit back into the game.

Under pressure, Fontaine tried to avoid a sack by unloading the ball. Defensive back Chris Vargas, however, intercepted and returned it 87 yards for Reseda’s final touchdown.

“I don’t believe in giving away touchdowns,” Schaeffer said. “They were moving the ball downfield with the help of a few flags and I didn’t want them to score.”

R--Kyman 1 run (Konstantinopoulos kick)

R--Wilson 12 pass from Kyman (Konstantinopoulos kick)

G--FG Walzer 25

R--Kyman 3 run (Konstantinopoulos kick)

R--Wilson 54 pass from Edwards (Konstantinopoulos kick)

R--Walker fumble recovery in end zone

R--FG Konstantinopoulos 37

R--Edwards 95 punt return

G--Fontaine 1 run (Walzer kick)

R--Vargas 87 interception return