Chabot Football Recap

Chabot football unveiled an electrifying all-Matthews passing combination in Saturday's tough 55-34 road loss to Redwoods in the teams' openers in the American Pacific 7 Conference.
Freshman Cooper Matthews passed for 352 yards and four touchdowns in his rousing debut as Chabot starter, and slot man Malakai "Kai" Matthews (no relation) had 11 catches for 168 yards and two TDs.
Chabot (3-2, 0-1) started fast and led by three points at halftime and 10 early in the third quarter on a 32-yard TD pass from Cooper Matthews, a Castro Valley High graduate, to Joseph Stephens, but that's when things went south quickly for the visitors in a defeat that snapped their three-game winning streak.
 A 21-0 Redwoods surge over a dizzying span of about three minutes that included a Pick-Six effectively sealed Chabot's fate.
"We were up for the majority of the game … A lot of missed assignments," said Chabot head coach Eric Fanene, who will use the bye week to fine-tune things.
Fanene praised Cooper Matthews' work (27-51-352, 4 TD, 2 INT), but added there is still a competition between Matthews and Harris Nekrawesh at signal-caller.
The coach said Malakai "Kai" Matthews had a "hell of game."
Injuries are taking a toll, however. The Glads were without dynamic wideout/punt returner Manny Higgins (knee) and others.
Dropping their conference opener stung.
"We've got to get better at fundamentals," Fanene said. "A conference loss, we don't take that lightly. We did a great job on the trip; we won the trip, but we've got to win the game."
Stephens finished with five receptions for 89 yards. Versatile threat Daemon Duran - a state standout and Gladiator of the Month — had 40 yards rushing and 39 receiving for two touchdowns.
Next, the Glads return home to face a solid San Jose squad on Oct. 19.