Modesto JC football season swung on one fateful kick at Chabot

The Modesto Junior College Pirates’ season rode on the foot of Chabot kicker Ivan Flores on Oct. 31.

That’s when Flores lined up a 44-yard field goal on the final play of regulation. Had he missed, the Pirates – ranked sixth in California – would have won 53-50 and assumed control of the Valley Conference race with a 3-0 record and 6-2 overall.

The kick sailed straight and true, however, and the Pirates’ season veered sideways. They eventually fell that night 60-53 in overtime and finished with losses to Fresno, Delta and Santa Rosa (in the North State Bowl last week).

Chabot, the Valley Conference champion, meets CCSF on Saturday in the Northern California title game. Meanwhile, MJC’s equipment has been stored.

“Like two different seasons,” MJC first-year coach Rusty Stivers admitted.

What happened? As one might expect, the explanation is more complicated than a single kick.

The Pirates (5-6, 2-3) relied too much on 230-pound quarterback Trey Cooper, whose physical pass-and-run game moved the ball, entertained fans and inspired the team. But it also exacted a toll on his body.

Cooper accounted for six touchdowns and nearly 450 total yards against Chabot. After that epic performance, he visibly slowed down because of several injuries. In fact, he missed most of the bowl game at Santa Rosa.

Cooper, whose emergence shocked coaches and teammates late last season, passed for 2,449 yards and 17 touchdowns and also rushed for 705 yards and 11 touchdowns. He would have given up some of those numbers for a few more wins.

“I looked to run through anybody,” Cooper said last week. “I didn’t realize what a 10-game toll could do to my body. Now I know.”

Stivers, realizing the Pirates stacked most of their chips this season on Cooper, had a plan. Backup quarterback Tiki Tonga was tabbed to get more action late in the season. But he was compromised since the first day of preseason camp by a bad shoulder.

“We had to rely on Cooper and (running back Aden) Ruiz to survive,” Stivers said. “Trey’s body took too many shots. It caught up to us.”

Ruiz (782 rushing yards, 11 touchdowns), a pleasant surprise after his work as a backup two seasons ago, also wore down after a late-season ankle injury. With Cooper and Ruiz ailing, Modesto’s free-wheeling NASCAR offense was jarred by several speed bumps. The Pirates’ 18-point production last week, after they averaged 40 points a game over the first 10, was a season low.

On defense, the Pirates scored seven touchdowns over the first seven games. They went scoreless during the final four.

The slump, Stivers feels, was a byproduct of a larger fundamental issue. He believed the Pirates lacked the depth and overall strength to compete against Chabot, San Francisco, Fresno and the other teams they must beat.

His first offseason as a head coach will be filled by developing a more intense weight-training program. Recruiting also will be stepped up.

“Only one player on our team could power-clean 300 pounds, and that was Trey. He was our strongest and most explosive player,” Stivers said. “We should have 15 or 20 guys who can do that.”

Stivers borrowed the idea from Jerry Van Lengen, his coach at Hilmar High School, who was ahead of his time by stressing offseason weight work during the 1980s. Stivers implemented the same idea to turn around the football program at Riverbank High in 2001. The Bruins upticked from 2-8 to 8-2.

“Even though we were close this year, we didn’t have the depth or the body type of the other teams,” Stivers said. “It’s not a mistake that those same teams are on top year after year. We’re behind.”

Further, Stivers wants to steer MJC toward a “three-year program,” where players can develop physically and mentally while sitting out one season. MJC has done this for years with its quarterbacks but not up and down the roster.

“Our opponents are doing this,” Stivers said. “If you can develop kids in the classroom, on the field and in the weight room, they can transfer more easily. That’s what we want. The process will take a while.”

Stivers wasn’t named the coach until May, though predecessor Sam Young announced his resignation the previous November. It led to an awkward transition, but the Pirates rendered it moot with their fast start.

Cooper, Ruiz, tackle Niles Graham, wide receiver Tim Knuettel, defensive lineman Kody Day and defensive backs Tyler Johnson and Herman Harris were named to the All-Valley Conference team. Knuettel (66 catches, 811 receiving yards, seven touchdowns), like Ruiz, was a surprise.

Stivers envisions a program that will sustain its momentum to the end. The Pirates, who again played Northern California’s most rigorous schedule, have no choice. A promising season stalled during one night at Chabot.

Said receiver David Martinez, “Ever since then, we weren’t the same.”

This story was originally published November 25, 2015 at 2:13 PM with the headline "Modesto JC football season swung on one fateful kick at Chabot."