Tigers growl at Gauchos in week two

The Saddleback football team knew it had its hands full, taking on a team ranked #3 in the country when heading to Riverside on Saturday night.  The Tigers didn't disappoint, returning the opening kickoff for a touchdown on way to a 38-18 defeat of the Gauchos.

Saddleback played hard but was unable to stop a Riverside offense that finished with 445 yards, most of which came in the opening half when they sprinted to a 31-8 lead.  The Tiger attack was potent on the ground, rushing 50 times for 268 yards.

Riverside opened a 10-0 lead in the opening quarter when Saddleback cut into the lead.  Johnny Stanton scored from two-yards out and Jacob Gibson converted a two-point conversion, cutting the lead to 10-8. 

Unfortunately, that was as close as Saddleback would get as RCC scored the next 21 points while the Gauchos were unable to penetrate the Tiger defense.  Saddleback made three attempts on fourth down to keep the ball in the opening half, but came up short on all three attempts. 

The Saddleback defense was much better in the second half as the Gauchos outscored the Tigers 10-7.  Saddleback cut the lead to 31-11 with 7:03 left in the third quarter when Aaron Ball connected from 23-yards for a field goal.  Unfortunately, Riverside answered right back with a 75-yard drive in 4:33 to up the score to 38-11.

Saddleback finished the scoring in the fourth quarter when Anthony Amaro caught a two-yard pass from Stanton with 9:29 remaining in the game.

Myron Buchanan led the Saddleback attack, rushing for 57 yards on 13 carries.  Zach Davis led the Gauchos with six catches while the Saddleback quarterbacks were 20-for-37 for 162 yards passing.

Saddleback will travel to El Camino College next Saturday, looking to break through with its first win of the year.  The opening kickoff is set for 5:00 PM at Redondo Union High School.