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Sports

Football: California Trounces College Park in Home Opener

The Grizzlies forced six fumbles and recovered four in a lopsided game.

California 45, College Park 3

The Star: Cal running back Jerrel Dunn shined with 118 rushing yards on four carries with one score. Quarterback Drew Reil was efficient for the second straight week completing 6-of-7 passes for 123 yards and three perfectly thrown touchdowns.

The Turning Point: College Park fumbled on the first offensive play of the game and Cal immediately capitalized on the mistake one play later. Running back Kyle Alvarez scored from 26 yards out on a sweep. The Grizzlies, like Alvarez, never looked back, scoring 28 in the quarter, putting the game to bed early.

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The Quote: "There are no stars on this team, we just want a sky that's lit up." — Cal coach Eric Billeci.

What's Next? Cal will play at Castro Valley on Friday at 7 p.m.

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Bottom Line: The Falcons were no match for the speed and strength of the Grizzlies. The route was on within minutes of the opening kickoff.

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Any worries that the California High football team might have a hangover after getting an emotional win over Washington last week, were put to rest early.

On their home turf for the first time, Cal players charged out of their oversized balloon helmet to thunderous cheers and the band striking up a chorus. Like the band, the offense and defense were in perfect tune and in control all night.

"We have no stars on this team, we just want a sky that's lit up," said Cal coach Eric Billeci, referring to lighting up the scoreboard with points and exciting the crowd.

Cal had three touchdowns in the first five minutes and did its best to wear out the scoreboard and scorekeeper.

The Grizzlies took control the first play of the game, forcing and recovering a fumble and scoring a touchdown on the next play.  College Park trailed by 25 points after the first quarter and was unable to slow down the Grizzlies.

Led by a bruising offensive line, the Grizzlies running attack churned out 269 yards and two touchdowns. The passing game was also deftly efficient with quarterback Drew Reil, starting his second career game, completing 6-of-7 passes for 123 yards and three touchdowns.

Reil showed beautiful touch on two of his scoring passes to John Sarmenta lofting the ball over his head and softly into his hands.  Sarmenta never broke stride on either pass and the quarterback and receiver are obviously clicking.

"I am not surprised, Drew is doing everything we asked," said Billeci of his quarterback. "He's responded. He's leading."

Running back Jerrel Dunn also electrified the home crowd with his speed, running for 118 yards on just four carries while collecting a touchdown.

"I wanted to gain my teammates and friends trust," said Dunn. "Last season, I struggled a bit with the game speed and getting adjusted. It felt good to break one."

The Grizzlies have a balanced running game, but their workhorse back, Kyle Alvarez showed his versatility with powerful inside running and quickness to the outside. Alzarez scored twice on runs of 26 and 18 yards leaving defenders in the dust.

The Grizzlies defense gang tackled and swarmed to the ball while staying disciplined to their gap assignments. Coach Bilecci stressed all week the importance of "everyone doing their job, because in defending a veer (option) offense every mistake is magnified."

The players listened and were not fooled by the trickery of option pitching and misdirection in the Falcon's offense.

Cal moved its record to 2-0 after starting last season 0-2 and the coaches, players and fans (with fireworks over the far north in the 3rd quarter) all were celebrating the turnaround. The Grizzlies could very well start the season 3-0, as their next opponent, Castro Valley only won two games all of last season.

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California 45, College Park 3

California 28 7 7 3 — 45
College Park 3 0 0 0 — 3


Scoring summary
11:05, 1st: C — Alvarez 26 run (Revis kick)
9:00, 1st: C — Sarmenta 11 pass from Reil (Rivas kick)
7:15, 1st: C — Sarmenta 22 pass from Reil (Rivas kick)
1:49, 1st: CP — Elrich 36 Field Goal
30.1, 1st: C — Deans 35 pass from Reil (Rivas kick)
1:50, 2nd: C — Dunn 35 run (Thayer kick)
8:42, 3rd: C  — Alvarez 18 run (Thayer kick)
7:20, 4th: C — Revis Field Goal


Individual Statistics
Rushing (car-yards): C — Dunn 4-118, Alvarez 6-63, Ezebuiro 4-35, Washington 3-26, Krause 4-22, Reil 2-9, Farley 1-1, Pang 1-0, Williamson 1-(-1), Ceccarelli 2-(-4). CP —Ferrante 11-129, Valdez 13-60, Ballard 4-18, Byers 6-11, Croft 3-6. Basket 2-(-2).
Passing (comp-att-yards-int): C — Reil 6-7-123; Williamson 1-1-73-0; Farley 2-2-9-0. CP — Valdez 2-9-48-1.
Receiving (rec-yards): C — Haley 1-73, Sarmenta 3-55, Taft 2-35, Deans 1-35, Scanlon 1-10, Dunn 1-(-1). CP — Croft 1-38, Ferrante 1-10.

Team offense (rush-pass-total)
California 269-205-474
College Park 222-48-270
Fumbles/lost: C — 0/0; CP — 6/4.
Records: Cal 2-0; College Park 0-2.

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