Chatsworth, Reseda Play to 6-6 Tie

It’s fourth and 16 with 45 seconds to play.

The ball is on the opposition’s 35-yard line.

And the score is tied. Punt or go for it?

You make the call.

If you’re Myron Gibford, Chatsworth High coach, there is no question about it. You punt.

“I’ll stand by it,” Gibford said matter-of-factly of the call.

And, as a result, he’ll stand by a 6-6 tie with Reseda on Thursday night at Chatsworth, leaving both teams with 1-0-1 records.

“I think they were happier with a tie than we were,” Reseda Coach Joel Schaeffer said. “It was a quote, unquote ugly ballgame.”

And a puzzling one, considering that Chatsworth seemed content to go home with the tie instead of trying for a first down.

Gibford offered little in the way of insight with regard to the call.

It was, however, something of a victory for Chatsworth, which posted its first offensive touchdown since game six of 1988. Last week, the defense scored all of the points in a 9-0 win over Monroe.

Thursday, bolstered by a 63-yard kickoff return by Kyle Beck, Chatsworth used a three-yard touchdown run on fourth down by Kenya Smith to break that particular drought with 9:05 to play in the third quarter.

A failed point-after kick--which matched an earlier Reseda point-after miss--accounted for the tie.

But it’s not as if the teams didn’t have their chances to alter the outcome.

In the second half, it looked like Alphonse and Gaston on the field, considering the generosity of each team; Chatsworth turned the ball over twice inside the Reseda 20-yard line and Reseda turned it over twice inside its 40.

Here, you take it.

Oh, no, please--you take it.

And still, it was somewhat of an upset that Chatsworth scored at all as the Chancellors posted only two first downs in the first half.

Reseda appeared to be driving for another first-half touchdown when, after taking over on its 11-yard line, 44 rushing yards from tailback Joey Tushnet helped move the Regents to the Chatsworth 23.

But Chatsworth’s Frank Salazar intercepted quarterback Andre Jackson’s pass at the 21.

Reseda, however, had looked good from the get-go, wasting little time in posting its first score. The Regents drove 70 yards in 10 plays after the opening kickoff to provide the only first-half scoring.

The drive was anchored by a 20-yard Jackson keeper that pushed Reseda into Chatsworth territory.

A couple of convenient yellow flags didn’t hurt the Regents, either, as Reseda was on the long end of both a third-and-10 pass-interference call and a third-and-two offside call.

Jackson then hit receiver Erik Ferguson with a 12-yard pass to give Reseda a 6-0 lead.

Reseda outgained Chatsworth, 194 yards to 106, with Tushnet rushing for 89 yards in 18 carries and Jackson gaining 60 yards in 18 carries.