Eagles hold off Santa Rosa JC, then dominate Diablo Valley College, 56–10

Eva Hannan, Tower Staff Writer

The final game of the regular season for the Laney Eagles football team is on Friday, Nov. 9, at 7 p.m. when the team plays host to rival Chabot College. It’s Sophomore Night for the graduating Laney players.

The Eagles won their last two games away from home, coming from behind to win 42–35 against Santa Rosa Junior College on Oct. 27, and beating Diablo Valley College 56–10 on Nov. 2 in Pleasant Hill.

This season, Laney has scored nearly twice the points of their opponents — 383–198 so far.

In their mammoth win against the Vikings, Laney scored four touchdowns in the first 10 minutes of the game, with three scored on passes and one rushing by quarterback Jordon Brookshire.

“Brookshire is a great overall athlete,” head coach John Beam said, “he runs, he throws and he thinks the game well.”

Kicker Isaak Parada had eight successful PATs in the game and has a streak of 14 in a row in the last two games.

The Eagles will need to keep their winning streak going in order to ensure that they are in the running for the state championship, Beam said.

Laney is now ranked sixth in the state after a shake-up when the Southern California Community College District assessed Fullerton College forfeits of all regular season games from this year and last season due to being found to be in violation of bylaws for offering “subsidizing, inducements and special privileges” to CCCAA student-athletes. Fullerton appealed the decision but lost, resulting in an 0–9 record for the season.

The Eagles are ranked second statewide with 30 rushing touchdowns, and they are ranked fourth in the state for rushing, with 2,149 yards gained overall for an average of 238.8 yards per game.

Rushing has been a big part of Laney’s success over the last few years, and this can be attributed to the players themselves and the work that goes into recruiting them, Beam said.

“It’s what we do well,” he said. “A lot of those touchdowns were the quarterback running a short yardage.”

Brookshire, a sophomore who played for Santa Rosa last season, has been Laney’s go-to quarterback. He played the entire game against his former team and scored all three of his rushing touchdowns in this manner.

At the end of the first half, Laney trailed the Bear Cubs 17–7, but they turned it around and scored three touchdowns in the third quarter.

Sophomore wide receiver Angelo Garrett scored two touchdowns on passes from Brookshire, one from 35 yards and the other from 28 yards.

The teams remained within 10 points of each other until midway through the fourth quarter, when Laney briefly expanded the lead to 42–26. Santa Rosa failed to score again until the last two minutes of the game.

Other notable sophomores this season include running back John McDonald, who averages slightly over 100 yards per game this season and leads the team in rushing.

“McDonald is a difference maker,” Beam said. “He can score from anywhere on the field. He’s just so fast, and he runs hard.”