By Phil Jensen
Special to Chabot Athletics
HAYWARD - The Chabot College football game on Saturday night had offensive fireworks, real fireworks (more on that later) and a fake punt that produced the eventual winning touchdown.
Most importantly for the Gladiators, however, was that they were victorious. Chabot exploded for 629 yards of offense in a 43-30 victory over visiting San Joaquin Delta on Saturday that snapped a five-game losing streak.
"I'm happy for the guys," Chabot coach Eric Fanene said. "It is our first Bay 6 Conference win since 2019, so that's special for us. … It feels good to win."
It was the most points that Chabot has put up this season, topping the 41 it scored against College of the Siskiyous in the Gladiators' opener. Chabot improves to 2-5 overall and 1-1 in the National-Bay 6 Conference. San Joaquin Delta falls to 1-6, 0-2.
Chabot quarterback Kekoa Turangan completed 31 of his 52 passing attempts for 423 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. A majority of his passes were caught by Damien Moun (game-high 10 receptions for 131 yards, 2 TD's) and Jeremiah Crum (seven receptions, a game-high 149 yards, TD).
"What this defense presented us, we felt good about it going into the week, that we could throw the ball and get our matchups with our guys," Fanene said. "Give credit to the players, man, they wanted it."
"We did our job," Turangan said. "Everybody knew their job, and we just executed."
The Gladiators also were lethal on the ground - Ismael Sanchez led all rushers with 115 yards.
Trailing 30-24 in the fourth quarter, the Gladiators were driving toward the Mustangs' goal line when loud fireworks erupted in the sky north of the Chabot campus for a few minutes. Play was never halted, and it didn't seem to bother Chabot's offense, as Turangan first completed a 16-yard pass to Damani Burrell, then a 24-yard touchdown connection with Moun before the fireworks stopped.
"I was in the moment in the game, I didn't really care," said Turangan about the fireworks.
The point-after-touchdown kick was wide right, leaving the score tied at 30 with 13 minutes, 55 seconds left in the fourth quarter. But the Gladiator defense forced a Delta three-and-out, including a clutch run stop on a fourth-and-one play.
Chabot drove to the Delta 38, when it faced a fourth-and-one play. The Gladiators lined up for a punt, but Laron Flippin took the snap and sprinted past stunned defenders to the end zone for a touchdown. Mark Vargas' PAT kick made the score 37-30 with 9:51 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Fanene said they didn't talk about a fake punt this week, but "three, four weeks ago" Flippin was encouraged to take it if he saw that it was open
"Laron's an athlete," Fanene said. "It presented itself and he just took it automatically. … He made a great choice right there because there was nobody on the edge, so he took it. "
The Chabot defense allowed Delta only two more first downs in the game, while the Gladiators offense drove 83 yards for a touchdown on their final possession, taking 6:34 off the clock. Crum, who had an outstanding game, provided the final score with a four-yard run out of the Wildcat formation with 1:23 left in the game.
Crum and Turangan teamed up for an impressive touchdown in the first quarter. With Chabot trailing 14-7, a 27-yard Sanchez run put the Gladiators on the Delta 35. On the next play, Turangan's pass for Crum looked like it was going to be an incompletion, as Crum fell in the end zone. But the pinpoint pass landed right in Crum's lap for the score.
"That was crazy," Turangan said. "I didn't think that he brought that down."
The game opened with two straight drives for touchdowns – in fact, the score was tied at 14 at the end of the first quarter.
After a one-yard scoring run by Delta's Nathan Branco, Chabot moved the ball 86 yards and ended the drive with a three-yard Turangan touchdown run. Branco scored again, this time on a two-yard run, but Crum's 35-yard touchdown grab helped tie the score again.
Delta kicker Julian Garibay had field goals of 30 and 25 yards in the second quarter, but Chabot held a 21-20 halftime lead thanks to a six-yard TD pass from Turangan to Moun and a Vargas PAT kick. The touchdown capped an outstanding 99-yard drive.
The Mustangs opened the second-half scoring with a 17-yard pass from Cruz Herrera to Alex Herrera. Vargas cut the Delta lead to 27-24 with a 32-yard field goal , but Delta widened its advantage to 30-24 on a 30-yard Garibay field goal with 22 seconds left in the third quarter before Chabot's heroics.
Defensively, Chabot had six sacks, including two by linebacker Pate Haunga. Teammate Freddy Moala's sack with less than a minute left in the game was also a key one for the Gladiators.