Glads Taste Sweet Win

The Chabot College football team needed a big play to clinch a huge win in Saturday’s home opener against Merced.
And the Gladiators got it.
Jeremiah Foni, a freshman from San Leandro High School, angled into the Merced backfield to block a point-after-touchdown kick with 1:28 remaining, sealing a 28-27 victory for Chabot that snapped a 14-game losing streak.
“I just knew the game was on the line and I had to show up for my boys,” Foni. “It wasn’t just me who made that block. It was a team effort.”
There were many heroes for Chabot, who put aside a big loss in the opener to host Monterey Peninsula College on Sept. 7.
“I’m happy for my team, happy for my coaches, happy for our families,” Chabot head coach Eric Fanene said. “That wasn’t our best version (last week against Monterey Peninsula), and they came out to play today. … I’m excited for the program.”
The Gladiators (1-1) changed their offensive attack at halftime. After passing for 239 yards and rushing for 49 yards in the first half, which ended in a 7-7 tie, Chabot threw for 66 yards in the second half and ran for 106. Freshman Daemon Duran finished with 160 yards rushing (including 109 in the second half) and three second-half touchdowns.
“When the run presented itself, our O-line was ready, our receivers blocked their butts off,” Fanene said.
In the first half, Chabot quarterback Harris Nekrawesh completed 19 of his 27 passes for 239 yards, including a five-yard touchdown pass to Travion Newton. Malakai “Kai” Matthews caught eight passes for 106 yards in the first half. Nekrawesh finished with 305 yards passing and Matthews had nine total receptions for 109 yards. Manny Higgins added five receptions for 86 yards.
“We fought through the whole game,” said Matthews, a 6-foot-5 sophomore from East Lansing, Michigan. “We were executing early, defense showed up, offense showed up. Everything was just clicking. … The run was working, l love it, let’s feed it, let’s keep running.”
Defensively, Chabot limited Merced (0-2) to 117 total yards in the first half, and Marcello Garcia and Malachi Salazar-Alexander grabbed interceptions in the game. The Gladiators also had five sacks from five different players.
“These guys busted their butts this week on defense,” Fanene said. “They’re way more conditioned this week than last week. What a difference a week makes.”
Entering the second half in a 7-7 tie, Chabot’s defense first limited Merced to a three-and-out, including sacks by Nathan Vera and Jeremaih Powell. Higgins returned the punt 38 yards to the Merced 27, and Duran went the rest of the way on two carries, including an 11-yard touchdown run which included a team push to keep the play alive.
Chabot’s advantage grew to 21-7 with 5:53 left in the third quarter on a one-yard Duran run and a Donovan Umeki PAT.
Merced battled back to within a touchdown after a Tyler Jacklich 64-yard scoring run later in the quarter, and Jacklich reached the end zone again on a two-yard run on the first play of the fourth quarter. The PAT by Hector Gonzalez tied the score at 21.
But the Gladiators answered with a 71-yard, eight-play drive. Duran ended the drive with a 21-yard run, and Umeki’s PAT gave Chabot a 28-21 advantage with 10:40 left in the game. Jacklich scored his fourth touchdown of the game on a three-yard run with 1:28 remaining before Foni’s heroics.
Chabot travels to Cabrillo for a 6 p.m. game on Sept. 21. Cabrillo is 0-2 after a 36-9 loss to De Anza on Saturday.

Correction: A photo with an incorrect identification was deleted from this file.