UNION CITY – After dealing with tight coverage on Tennyson star wide receiver Taeshaun Lyons in the first half of Friday night’s game, the Lancers found other offensive weapons in the second half.
That game plan proved successful, as Tennyson broke a scoreless tie with 26 straight second-half points in a big 26-6 victory over host James Logan.
“Everything was strategic,” Tennyson coach John Pangelina said. “They expected a certain style of ball, we hit ‘em with something different. We have a ton of athletes out here, we just want to showcase everybody’s talent.”
Jeremiah Powell, a 6-foot-2 senior, caught touchdown passes of 13 and five yards from senior quarterback Jordan Hernandez. Powell, who transferred last year from Hayward, finished with a game-high four receptions for 49 yards.
Hernandez completed four of his five passes in the second half, with three of them going for touchdowns. In addition to the strikes to Powell, Hernandez connected on a 20-yarder to Lyons for the final Lancers touchdown with 3 minutes, 48 seconds to play. Hernandez also rushed for 46 yards in the game and finished with 10 completions in 18 attempts for 112 yards with three touchdowns and one interception.
Lyons, ranked as a four-star wide receiver by 247sports with 22 college scholarship offers including from Notre Dame and Washington, finished with three receptions for 31 yards. The 6-foot-2 Lyons was targeted five times in the first half and had two receptions for 11 yards. Lyons also ran the ball out of the Wildcat formation in the fourth quarter and finished with 12 yards on the ground. He also played well at cornerback on the defensive side of the ball.
“He’s a selfless guy,” said Pangelina about Lyons.
Tennyson’s Rico Salazar, a 6-1 senior, rushed for a game-high 121 yards on nine runs. He had only three rushes for three yards at halftime. His big play was a 60-yard sweep around the right side for Tennyson’s second touchdown. Angel Lopez’s point-after-touchdown kick gave the Lancers a 14-0 lead with 4:32 left in the third quarter.
The Lancers’ defense also had six sacks of Colts quarterback Thomas Miller. Tennyson had a shutout until the 1:29 mark of the fourth quarter, when Miller found Jack Morton for a three-yard touchdown pass.
“Guys just locked in. They knew how big this game was,” said Pangelina about his team’s defense. “We’re always the underdog, we don’t really get the respect.”
Tennyson improved to 6-2 overall and 3-0 in the MVAL/WACC Foothill Division. James Logan, 18th in the Bay Area News Group rankings, fell to 5-3, 2-1.
Jaleel Jones produced a team-high 70 rushing yards for Logan. Defensively, the Colts’ Tu’unahala Leao deflected a pass that teammate Samuel Flores picked off to end a long Tennyson drive in the first half.
Source: www.mercurynews.com