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Coyotes Overcome Overstayers 91-18

March 28, 2005 - arenafootball2 (af2)
Central Valley Coyotes News Release


FRESNO – The Central Valley defense found the end zone three times while offensive specialist Latario Rachal added four scores of his own in a 91-18 victory over the New Zealand Overstayers in their opening exhibition game at Sellend Arena.

"It felt good to be out on the field after a year away from the contact," said Rachal, who is a former Fresno State Bulldog. "I feel that our hard practices really prepared us for tonight."

Before the Coyotes offense, who scored on nine of their 10 offensive possessions, even took the field, they held a 14-0 advantage off of two interception returns for touchdowns. The first was a Marvin Owens 19-yarder on their first defensive series and a 26-yarder by Joshua Robinson on their second.

On the next possession, New Zealand Quarterback Joseph Toilolo responded with a 45-yard strike to wide receiver Jimmy Thomas on the third series to give the Overstayers their only score of the first half.

Quarterback Juston Wood, who completed his first four attempts, played most of the first half completing 8-of-11 passes for 94 yard and three touchdowns.

"This game helped us evaluate some things but I still think that I have a ways to go," Wood said. "We still have to have a good week of practice to prepare for next week's opener."

The first was a 14-yard toss to second-year wide receiver Lamonte Jones that gave the Coyotes a commanding 21-6 lead. The second was a 2-yarder caught by Rachal.

On the next New Zealand drive the Coyote defense found the endzone for the third time in their fourth series when offensive lineman Oscar Grajeda returned a 17-yard interception for a score, giving the Coyotes a 35-6 advantage. It was the first interception of Grajeda's four year career.

"I was just at the right place, at the right time," Grajeda said. "Mike (Duncan) made the tip and I took advantage of it."

The defense continued to be effective, forcing the Overstayers to turn it over on downs their final two possessions of the half.

The Coyotes went into the break with a 49-6 lead at the half after a DeRonn Finley 3-yard touchdown catch and a JaJuan Huddleston 11-yard run.

The second half was dominated by Rachal and wide receiver/defensive back Michael Duncan as they were responsible for all five touchdowns scored in the third quarter.

Rachal caught two Chad Munson touchdowns and also returned a 39-yard kickoff for a score after the Coyotes recorded a safety on a blocked 53-yard field goal attempt.

Duncan had a 24-yard interception return that set up a touchdown and added a 20-yard interception touchdown return two possessions later to put Central Valley up 77-6.

New Zealand scored on their next offensive possession with a Jasan Vaka touchdown reception to make it 77-12. After JaJuan Huddleston recorded his second touchdown of the day, Overstayer quarterback Joeseph Toilolo connected with Albert Bernard for an 11-yard touchdown to make it 84-18.

Jabari Jackson added an 11-yard touchdown run with under a minute to go to extend the Coyotes lead to 91-18.

The Coyotes, who's current roster is at 25 players needs to cut to 21 tomorrow

"This game has made some of our decisions a lot tougher," head coach Fred Biletnikoff Jr. said. "All of these guys really showed good enthusiasm tonight."

The Coyotes will open the regular on Saturday, April 2, as they travel to Bakersfield to take on the defending Western Division champion Bakersfield Blitz. That contest will kick off at 7:30 p.m. and be broadcast on KFIG 1430 AM.

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The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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