Roadrunners Notebook: Opinions vary on…
Roadrunners Notebook: Opinions vary on Modesto's offensive success
PUBLISHED: September 30, 2012 at 12:00 a.m. | UPDATED: July 28, 2018 at 4:23 a.m.
BUTTE VALLEY — Differing opinions cropped up aplenty on the Butte College sideline after the Roadrunners narrowly escaped their Saturday matchup with Modesto, and the topic was the Pirates' unstoppable offensive charge to score 28 unanswered points to tie the game in the fourth quarter.
While every one in the Butte camp acknowledged Modesto's offensive skill — and the numbers say the Pirates are the fourth-best scoring unit in the state — it wasn't unanimously agreed upon that the visitors earned every point they got.
Defensive end Damien Borel was outspoken about the defensive miscues that allowed quarterback Teejay Gordon and the rest of the offense to rip off big gain after big gain in the second half.
"Their offense was designed to slow us down, stop the pass rush and open things up. But we missed assignments and let it happen," Borel said. "You have to play smarter against teams like that, stay contained, play your assignment."
Meanwhile, cornerback Tevin Ivy (who was on the short end of two highly disputed pass interference calls, both of which led to Pirate scores) was impressed by Modesto's ability to generate momentum coming out of the halftime break.
"I've never seen a team come out like that. It was awesome, honestly," Ivy said. "They have a good offense for a reason, and I even thought our defense did a good job of shutting that down at times."
Butte head coach Jeff Jordan saw both sides.
"They wore us down, and that's the whole thing about their offense," Jordan said. "They know what they're doing and they did a good job against us. But I still think we were the better team today. We had some penalties, turnovers, things that hurt us, that if we don't do, we don't let them back in the game."
RUN FOR YOUR LIFE: Forced to show its true colors in a pressure situation, it may have been telling that Butte turned to its run game exclusively in the fourth quarter to get the lead in the final few minutes. Six straight runs, with split carries between Derick Seward and Cameron Mikell, carried the Roadrunners 60 yards after a big Wes McCoy kickoff return. Seward's touchdown run was the game-winner on that drive.
"We have some special running backs and our offensive line is starting to take some pride and develop an attitude in the run game," Jordan said. "We're going to need that. We needed to have some sustained drives, something to give our defense a rest."
TWO TYPES OF TOUGH: A week ago, Butte had to take an early punch to the mouth and show the resolve to come back from it on the road. On Saturday, the Roadrunners were forced to withstand an offensive torrent by the Pirates and still have the strength of will to rally back.
"It's hard to come out with a halftime lead," Ivy said. "It's easy to get it in your head that you've got the win already when you're up big like that. We made it hard on ourselves but in the end it showed our character."
Connect with E-R sports writer Travis Souders on Twitter: @travissouders.