City College awaits Mt. San Antonio in state title game for second straight year

 

Caleb Holley #81 breaks free down the sideline for a 71-yard touchdown against Fresno on Nov. 26. Holley caught four touchdowns and racked up 129 yards. ALISA OROZCO / THE GUARDSMAN

 

 

By Ryan Kuhn
The Guardsman

Rams 57, Fresno 13
Sophomore wide receiver Caleb Holley entered the Northern California Championship game with just four touchdown receptions for the season.

 

By the time the game was over he had doubled his total.

Holley’s career-high of four touchdown receptions and 126 yards receiving was just a part of City College’s display against Fresno City College as the Ram’s offense carried them to a 57-13 win on Nov. 26.

“Caleb played great,” said his quarterback Turner Baty. “He’s always in my ear saying, ‘give me the ball.’ He is one of the best receivers I have ever thrown to.”

Baty also finished with a career-high of seven touchdown passes propelling him to 30 touchdown passes for the season. He ended the game with 386 yards passing as well.

He said his performance was something he enjoyed, but had some help from his teammates around him.

“I was not on the ground once,” Baty said. “My [offensive] line played their butts off and I was able to go through my reads. It was a lot of fun.”

City College started the game with four of Baty’s touchdowns being thrown in the first quarter. After a quick rushing touchdown by Fresno to start off the second, Baty found Desmond Epps and Holley for a fourth time to extend the lead, 43-7.

“It was the best half of football we have played all season,” said head coach George Rush. “Our defense played lights out, our offense played great, our special teams were outstanding, it was a real team effort.”

With a pair of touchdowns including one final catch for Holley and a 24-yard run by Epps in the third quarter, City College now turns their attention to their next goal, the state championship.

For the second straight year, City College will face Southern California champion Mt. San Antonio, who handed them their only loss last season, 34-7, in the 2010 championship game.

Holley was a freshman player last year and still takes that loss to heart.
“We remember last year and it hurt us,” Holley said. “Right now we have a chip on our shoulder so we need to play with more intensity like we did [against Fresno.]”

Rush said is it rare to have this opportunity to set up a rematch.

“We have been waiting a year to play them again and we get the chance,” Rush said. “For both teams it says a lot about the quality of the teams and the players. I”m sure they will be revved up and we will be all revved up too. We’ll see what happens.”

The game will be played Dec. 10 at Rams Stadium at 1 p.m.