Trojans stampede Cougars

The Twin Cities Cougars picked the wrong day to welcome Northern California Amateur Football Federation powerhouse Stockton into town.

With a Saturday high of 86 degrees and playing on the hot artificial surface at Honker Stadium in Yuba City, the Trojans scored on all four of their possessions in the second quarter to build a 27-0 halftime lead and cruised to a 34-6 win.

It was the Cougars (1-3) first loss of the season.

After a scoreless first period, the stifling heat on the field, coupled with a quick Stockton offense was just too much for the Cougars to overcome.

"Everybody was tired, you could see it," Cougars defensive coordinator Colby Robinson said. "When guys are asking out of the game, you know something's wrong."

The Cougars (3-1) held Stockton to just 18 yards in the first period before the Trojans' offense came to life in the second.

The onslaught began when Maurice Sapp recovered a Ryan Hayes' fumble late in the first period, giving Stockton possession at the Cougars' 25-yardline.

The Trojans (4-0) immediately turned the turnover into points when Logan Hollis found Tony McPherson in the back of the end zone for a 19-yard touchdown score on the first play of the second period. Hugo Canedo's kick made the score 7-0.

Twin Cities punted on their next possession, but their defense quickly forced a quick three-and-out, but were whistled for roughing the punter, allowing the Trojans to maintain possession.

The break was all Stockton needed.

On the next play, halfback Gabriel Martin found a huge hole up the middle, broke a tackle and outran the defense for a 44-yard touchdown.

Stockton took advantage of yet another break when a bad bounce led to an 18-yard punt, giving them the ball at the Cougars' 49-yard line.

Three plays later, Hollis threw a jump ball to Quintin Jones for a 5-yard score. Cougars' cornerback Will Walker appeared to come down with the ball, but the officials ruled it a touchdown and a 21-0 lead.

The Cougars let their frustrations boil over after the play and were whistled for two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties .

As if things couldn't get worse, another three-and-out by Twin Cities gave Stockton the ball at midfield with just 1:36 left in the half.

With the ball at the 25-yard line, Stockton brought out the old statue-of-liberty play. Martin took the hand off from the left-handed Hollis, broke three tackles and ran free down the right sideline for the score with just 35 seconds left in the half.

Although Tim Oliver blocked the point after, the Cougars went into the half down 27-0.

"The heat really got to us and mentally took us out of the game," Cougars' coach Juan Jimenez said. "Things seemed to go our way at the beginning, then fatigue took over. They're a good team, but we had our problems too.

Martin made the score 34-0 when he broke loose for a 29-yard touchdown on the Trojans' second drive of the second half. He finished with 125 yards on nine carries and three touchdowns.

"I started a little bit slow, but coach told me to relax and wait for the holes to open," Martin said. "The offensive line did a good job today, I just had to wait for the play to develop."

Running the spread-option offense made popular by the likes of the University of Florida, Hollis did his best Tim Tebow impression. The 6-foot-1 southpaw carried the ball four times for 35 yards and completed 5-of-8 passes for two scores before sitting out the second half.

"We have a lot of speed and that's the key to with this offense," Hollis said. "We have a lot of weapons so we just take what the defense gives us."

For Stockton coach David Wimberly, the spread offense is the perfect fit for his team's personnel.

"That's what everybody's going to," Wimberly said, adding that his team has playmakers at all the skill positions. "They have a great defense, our lineman did a good job of picking up their blitzes and holding their blocks."

The Cougars avoided the shutout when back-up quarterback Tim Oliver found Laythen Martinez for a 5-yard touchdown late in the fourth period.

Twin Cities managed just 66 yards of total offense and five first downs.

Contact sports assistant Andy Arrenquin at 743-0512 or at aarrenquin@appeal-democrat.com