O’Brien delivers big game to lead Buhach Colony football to second straight win.
For the second week in a row, the Buhach Colony High football team was celebrating a victory on Friday night. This time it came at home as the Thunder improved to 2-2 this season with a 26-9 victory over Ceres at Dave Honey Stadium.
The win comes one week after Buhach Colony snapped a 23-game losing streak with an 18-13 victory over Ceres. “Everyone was a little more excitable this week,” said Thunder co-head coach Kevin Navarra. “I think people can see the light at the end of the tunnel. My whole message to them this week was, ‘It’s going to feel better this Friday if you take care of business.’Coach (Matt) Grandado) talked to them about how they want to stack those wins on top of each other.”
Navarra called the win over Ceres a team win. Again it was Blake O’Brien leading the way, rushing for 110 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries and also scoring on a 75-yard kickoff return. Isaiah Reed finished with 50 yards rushing and a touchdown. Buhach Colony finished with 350 yards rushing as a team as Gabriel Machado, Charles Peterson, Jayden James and Joel Castaneda all took turns running the ball effectively.
The defense also shined for the Thunder as Mason Casetanoe recorded nine tackles, including three tackles for loss. O’Brien also excelled on defense, collecting eight tackles. Peterson added three passes deflected and three tackles.
“I definitely think the energy was good,” Navarra said. “I think everything just kind of picked up a notch. But we can't go through any more adversity. I mean, we played without three starting linemen for the second week in a row. This particular group has stepped up to the challenge. Each time, each man just steps up. It does not matter who's down or who's out, they just want to keep fighting. So I’ve been super impressed with that.”
Buhach Colony will try to extend their winning streak to three in a row next week when the Thunder travel to Lodi.
Shawn Jansen is the MUHSD Program Manager Digital Media. He can be reached at Sjansen@muhsd.org.