Tanner Buck

September 3, 2021, 5:21 p.m. PT

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. -- Golden West College’s football team, the Rustlers, scrimmaged Chapman University Panthers last Friday. The Rustlers are preparing for their first full schedule since fall of 2019. During the scrimmage, each team had the opportunity to run several plays in a row. Although there was no score, both teams scored multiple times. There were big plays and momentum shifts. Rustlers' quarterback Jake Retzlaff hit wide receiver Tanner Branson in the middle of the field from their own thirty-five yard line who then exploded after the catch to advance to Chapmans ten yard line. A few plays later running back Mike Carrillo ran for a touchdown. On the defensive side, safety Codie Sauvao made an impactful play breaking up the pass over the middle of the field separating Chapman's receiver from the ball. The defense also looked quick, getting behind the line of scrimmage making several tackles in the backfield, and pressuring the quarterback.

After the scrimmage head coach Nick Mitchell said “ We just got to keep working hard to get better individually, and as a group, we just got to get to 1-0. We got a lot of work to do next week to get to that 1-0 point”.

The Golden West roster has an equal amount new and returning players. After the scrimmage players were asked what they felt about their team going into the season. Wide receiver John Ojelabi said, “A lot of the same quarterbacks, wide receivers and offensive lineman returned so there is already a pretty good amount of cohesion and chemistry.” There were indeed moments that showed the offense was on the same page when Ojelabi scored on a crisp pass from quarterback Sam Simril in the red zone. Simril also hit Nick Kennewell on a well-timed curl route for a first down. Receiver Torrance Wiseman showed his athleticism when he caught a pass behind the line of scrimmage, made two guys miss, and gained ten yards. Defensive lineman Anthony Garcia said, “Communication between all the guys has improved as everyone is lining up in the right spots and everything is clicking.” The defensive backs are also looking forward to getting the season started. Safety Codie Sauvao said, “I am excited for week one, it's going to be nice, we have a lot guys who can make plays that are in the secondary and I feel a lot of guys are gonna step up .” It showed in plays during the scrimmage were many in the secondary made tackles and pass breakups. The linebackers made key plays providing tackles on the running backs at the line of scrimmage. The Rustlers' are on the road week one against rival Orange Coast College, Saturday Sept. 4 at 6 p.m.

Tanner Buck

September 8, 2021, 5:30 p.m. PT

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. -- The Golden West College Rustlers’ competed against Orange Coast College on Saturday night at Orange Coast. The offense moved the ball when given opportunities in the first half as Golden West quarterback Jake Retzlaff rushed for three touchdowns on the goal line. He threw for 161 yards and went sixteen for twenty-seven while rushing for 46 yards. Receiver Tanner Branson had six catches in the game with 77 yards receiving. Runningback Gianni Hurd led the team in rushing with 61 yards on 11 carries. On defense, a lot of tackles were made as 9 players finished with 4 or more tackles as it was lead by defensive lineman Ismael Souza who had 7 tackles with two of them being for a loss. Interceptions were caught by defensive backs Prince Ford and Cody Sauvao. The defense stayed on top of things as only one touchdown was given up at the end of the game as they won 24-7.

After the game talking to head coach Nick Mitchell about the game he said, “We were pressuring the quarterback, we got them on the run and plenty of tackle for losses.’’ Although he was happy about the win and the way his defense played he said, “We left plenty of plays we did not get which were more tackle for losses and sacks.”

Talking to defensive back Prince Ford about what he felt the secondary did well in the game he said “When the ball is in the air we are taught that the ball is ours, so when the defensive line puts pressure, we are gonna go get it.” Asking about what he is excited about going into next week from this game defensive lineman Ismail Souza said “ I’m just excited about the whole team as a unit as the offense did their job, as the defense we are just going to try to get the ball back for the offense.” When speaking about the defense Souza said, “Defense as a whole we just need to communicate which will be a big part moving forward.” Linebacker Dakota Hart said, “I think our linebacker core looked really strong this week as they were in the backfield all game getting tackles and carrying over to next week we are going to bring that same energy.” Talking to wide receiver Tanner Branson about the game said “We were basically throwing it over the top because they wanted to play man coverage.” When asked about what he was thinking during the game Branson said “I just need to make as many plays as I can and give us the best opportunity to win. Golden West starts out the season with a 1-0 record as they play Palomar College next week.

Official Stats- https://www.gwcathletics.com/sports/fball/2021-22/releases/20210907rkz5bp

Tanner Buck

September 16, 2021, 6:21 p.m. PT

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. -- The Rustlers played their second game against Palomar College. Right out the gate, the offense for the Rustlers was clicking as they scored a touchdown on their first two drives. One of them being a 1-yard quarterback sneak from Jake Retzlaff giving them the lead 7-0 with 13:10 in the first quarter. The drive started after defensive back Alex Raich caught an interception on Palomar’s opening drive. As the defense got another stop Retzlaff also threw a twenty-yard touchdown to Torrance Wiseman on the next drive advancing the score 14-0. Both drives consisted of several big runs that set up the scores from runningback Jared Johnson who led the team with 74 rushing yards on 12 attempts. Johnson also led the team in receiving with 82 yards on 4 catches. With 34 seconds left in the second quarter, Retzlaff completed a pass to Jared Johnson for 16 yards that set up a 39-yard field goal a few plays later by kicker Jake Cipres to make the score 17-0 going into the half. In the third quarter, neither team scored. At the start of the fourth quarter, the Palomar offense was able to sustain a nine-play drive for 31 yards that resulted in a field goal making the score 17-3. On the next play, Eman Lawoye returned a 93-yard kickoff with 14:42 in the fourth quarter making the score 24-3. With 11:45 left in the fourth, the Rustlers sustained a 6 play drive for 73 yards resulting in a 1-yard touchdown run by Retzlaff adding to the score to make it 31-3. The defense stepped up immensely with six sacks as all of the starters on the defensive line were unable to play due to Covid complications. Two of the six sacks came from defensive linemen Christian Carmona. Quarterback Jake Retzlaff finished the game with 218 yards passing going 12 for 23 with three touchdowns. Linebacker Pablo Araya led the team in tackles with 6 in which one of them was a tackle for a loss. The Rustlers' record advances to 2-0 as they take on their rival next Saturday at home against Bakersfield College.

Official Team Stats-https://www.gwcathletics.com/sports/fball/2021-22/boxscores/20210911_ih3r.xml