Clapper to the rescue – Modesto JC football wins at Siskiyous
The Modesto Junior College Pirates had not reached full velocity with their NASCAR offense this season – until Saturday afternoon among the redwoods near the California-Oregon border.
Wyatt Clapper, responding to an early-game injury to fellow quarterback Shawn Munoz, threw four touchdown passes and rushed for a fifth TD as MJC brought home a 59-43 victory at College of the Siskiyous.
Munoz twisted his ankle during the Pirates’ first offensive series, which was capped by the first of two rushing touchdowns by Jay Green. Clapper, who shared the QB duties with Munoz in recent games, entered and the fast-paced MJC attack took flight.
“That’s the fortunate thing about having two quarterbacks,” MJC coach Rusty Stivers said. “We have two confident quarterbacks.”
Modesto (3-2), which bounced back from a disappointing loss last week at Contra Costa, led 26-23 at halftime and never trailed in the second half. The Pirates overcame injuries to Munoz, offensive lineman Christian Romo and wide receiver Ravon Alexander.
No MJC opponent this season is more unlike the Pirates than Siskiyous (3-2). Seventy-five of the Eagles’ 83-man roster are from outside California, the polar opposite of Modesto’s mostly home-grown team.
The Pirates were more concerned over their offense, which had averaged 30 points a game, 10 fewer than previous seasons. The solution started with Clapper, who threw touchdown passes of 8 yards to Alex Kiriluk, 7 yards to Green, 37 yards to Alexander and 11 yards to Blake Smallie.
Khahil Montgomery carried 3 yards for a TD and Lovell Collins added a 21-yard run for a score. Clapper’s rushing touchdown covered 12 yards.
“Simplifying the playbook helped us this week,” Stivers said. “It was a good overall performance.”
The defense gave up a lot of points but also contributed important interceptions in the second half by Lamar Johnson and Nicholas Medina.
Green, one of California’s most productive running backs over the first four games, raised his touchdown total to 10.
“It was nice to practice on the field the night before, a good bonding experience,” Stivers said. “We have a lot of happy people here.”
In other results involving Valley Conference teams, Sequoias (3-2) was beaten by Sacramento City 28-0. On Friday night, Delta (1-4) fell to Diablo Valley 42-21. Modesto enjoys a bye next week before it begins the league race at home Oct. 15 against Sequoias.
This story was originally published October 1, 2016 at 6:27 PM with the headline "Clapper to the rescue – Modesto JC football wins at Siskiyous."