Reseda Silences Casey, Sylmar on Strength of a Suffocating Defense

Jerome who?

That was the battle cry at Reseda High on Friday night, where the Regents shut down Sylmar and its highly-touted tailback, Jerome Casey, 20-6, in a Valley Pac-8 conference game.

And while the rowdy Regents drenched Joel Schaeffer--their coach of 14 years--with water in celebration of their third consecutive win over favored Sylmar, the Spartans had to be asking a question of their own.

Like, Joey who?

Why, that would be Joey “Little Train” Tushnet.

Tushnet, standing just 5-foot-6 and weighing just 150 pounds, gained 200 yards in 27 carries, and, while he didn’t score a touchdown, he led a Reseda ground game that controlled the ball for most of the last half.

Tushnet carried the ball 10 times for 82 yards as he engineered an 83-yard Regent march that, while stalling on the 14-yard line, ran the clock down more than eight minutes until 29 seconds remained.

“I was just proving a point,” Tushnet said amid the postgame festivities.

And what point was that?

“He ain’t the best back around,” Tushnet yelled to the roars of his teammates.

“He,” of course, would be Casey, who came into the game with 716 yards in four games. Reseda held Casey to 77 yards in 17 carries, including eight yards in eight second-half carries.

“One of the most courageous efforts I’ve seen as a coach came from No. 20 tonight,” Schaeffer said. Of course, Tushnet was aided by a line that consistently blew Sylmar off the ball.

“That’s where football games are won, tackle to tackle,” Schaeffer said, beaming.

The win was especially crucial for Reseda, which suffered its worst defeat in 10 years last week--a 40-13 loss to Grant.

The score was tied, 6-6, at halftime, although Reseda dominated the game statistically. Reseda wound up outgaining Sylmar, 311 yards to 139.

But any doubts were squelched when the Regents embarked on a masterful 11-play, 76-yard drive right out of the gate in the second half that was capped by quarterback Andre Jackson’s one-yard sneak with 3:35 left in the third quarter and made the score 12-6.

A crucial defensive stand at Reseda’s one-yard line in the fourth quarter forced a Casey fumble that was recovered by Chris Kates with 8:46 left.

A scoring threat was stopped and Reseda (3-1-1, 2-1 in conference play) went on the long, Tushnet-engineered drive.