Tigers Blowout Vikings 50-2 in Season Opener
Taft quarterback Pete Lahti scrambles for a 5-yard touchdown run in the first quarter of the Tiger's blowout of Colton Friday. (Photo by Larry Coonrod)
By Larry Coonrod
TAFT—A fumble recovery for a two point safety by junior Sam Taylor just over four minutes into the first quarter lit the fuse on the Tigers’ romp over the Colton Vikings in Friday night’s season opener.
Through four quarters Taft held the Vikings to just 9 yards of total offense.
The Tigers 50-2 rout of Colton at home Friday was the continuation of a rebuilding program that started last year.
“Last year we got a couple of wins and started moving in the right direction,” said Head Coach James Mick.
First Quarter Slam
Tigers quarterback Pete Lahti notched the first touchdown of the game with a 5-yard carry with 5:29 left in the first quarter. With an extra point, Taft began widening the gap with Colton 9-0. A 9-yard carry by Lahti two and half minutes later and reception by Rylan Fisher for the extra point gave Taft a 17-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.
The Tigers capped a 60-yard drive with a touchdown reception by Bai Stecher to take a 24-0 lead at the start of the first quarter. Colton put their only points of the game on the board with a punt block followed by a team safety to make the game 24-2.
“Credit for Colton for going out and making the play, but I felt like we had put ourselves in position to give that up,” Mick said. “When you make it easy for the other team, that’s frustrating. We want to make it hard in everything we do and make it competitive.”
Game Out of Reach for Vikings
Taft junior Trent Daniels had the hometown crowd on its feet and cheering when he intercepted a pass from Vikings quarterback Dustin Jones. The fleet-footed Daniels zipped past the stunned Vikings for a 46-yard touchdown run, spinning the scoreboard to 30-2 for Taft. As daylight faded, so did the Vikings’ hope for a season opening win.
Taft put a touchdown and two-point conversion on the board with 6:35 remaining in the third quarter when Lahti fired off a 7-yard pass to Fisher to put the Vikings up 38-2. Junior Alroy Zacarias added to the rout with a 49-yard punt return. A missed extra point left the Tigers with a 44-2 lead at the end of the third.
With the game in hand, the Tigers took down the tempo in the fourth quarter, scoring 6 points on a 3-yard run by sophomore Everett Thomas. A young team with only six seniors out of its 40 players, Mick took the opportunity to work in younger players throughout the fourth. Taft ended the game with a 50-2 win and one very pleased head coach.
”Colton is a very quality team. They made the playoffs in the league we’re going into next year, so it was nice to be able to get some good things done against them,” Mick said.
Looking Ahead
Taft faces Toledo next Friday in a non-league matchup at home. The Boomers are coming off a 20-34 loss to Oakridge last week. Mick is expecting a tight game when the two county rivals take the field.
“They play really tough,” he said. “It’s always tough when you play your neighbors and they’re right down the street so it has a little rivalry feel to it. It’s exciting, but they are going to bring the game, so we are going to have to work hard and be ready.”
With some not so stellar seasons in the recent past and a facing a schedule of tough competitors this year, Mick plans to continue working on changing the team’s culture this season.
“It’s not about winning or losing, but we want to compete in everything we do,” he said. “When we step on the field, we want to show we are going to compete with everybody we play with and we’re going to carry ourselves high and have a pride about ourselves.”
Stats Taft vs Colton
Rushing
Taft: 149 yards
Colton: -64 yards
Passing
Taft: 149 yards
Colton: 73 yards
Total Offense
Taft: 293 yards
Colton: 9 yards
First Downs
Taft: 13
Colton: 5
Time of Possession
Taft: 19:38
Colton 28:22
Penalties/Yards
Taft: 13/115 yards
Colton: 6/42 yards
