October 20, 2016

Game Preview: COS vs. No. 5 Laney

Laney

6-1

Sequoias

3-4

Final	1	2	3	4	T
Laney (6-1)	14	14	7	0	35
Sequoias (3-4)	0	0	0	6	6

The College of the Sequoias football team looks to snap a two-game losing streak as the Giants host No. 5 Laney at Giant Chevrolet-Cadillac Mineral King Bowl this Saturday at 2 p.m.

The Giants fell out of the CCCAA State rankings this week after their 48-24 loss to Modesto. Sequoias only needs two more wins to be bowl eligible.

Here is a quick breakdown of each team before the Valley Conference matchup:

Laney Eagles (5-1, 1-0 VC):

Laney is last in the Valley Conference in passing. The Eagles are led by both Noah Suszckiewicz and Andrew Ve'e in the read-option offense. Suszckiewicz has 362 yards passing and has three touchdowns through the air. Ve'e has been the better of the two, as he has thrown for 503 yards and six touchdowns for the Eagles.

The state's fifth-ranked team makes up for the passing deficiency on the ground. Rushing the football is the Eagles' bread and butter, as they are first in the Valley Conference. Ve'e is dangerous on the ground. He has 283 yards and four touchdowns. Marcel Dancy is the lead back for the Eagles. Dancy averages 91.2 yards rushing a game. He has a total of 547 yards this season. Laney is averaging 253.8 yards rushing yards per game, with 1,523 total yards on the season.

On defense, Laney has a top five Valley Conference sack tandem. Defensive lineman Solomon Clark leads the team with five sacks and Linebacker Manny Fernandez has four.

The Eagles upset San Francisco 18-13, who at the time was ranked first in the state and second nationally.

Laney's only loss came the following week at No. 4 Butte, 38-20.

COS Giants (3-3, 0-1 VC):

COS has allowed an average of 173.8 yards rushing, and 228 yards passing per game. If the Giants want to upset Laney, they will have to rely on their defense to create stops and give their offense a chance. Turnovers will be key and COS has nine interceptions on the year. Safety Ron LaForce leads the team with five, and will be counted on to pickoff Laney's quarterback tandem. To give LaForce opportunities, up front COS needs to rush the passer. Look for Darren Hambrick Jr. , Logan Pierce and Rakeem Terry to create pressure.

On offense it isn't clear who will be the signal caller this Saturday. Quarterback Thomas Wilson started the previous six games but he had a rough outing in the Giants' loss to Modesto. Wilson finished 11-of-23 passing for 56 yards. Sophomore quarterback Josh Sierra stepped in and had a great showing, passing for 133 yards with two touchdowns. He also had 49 yards on the ground.

Broadcast:

Saturday's game will be live-streamed in partnership with COS Athletics and "The Campus" Newspaper.