Panthers coach Collins gets first victory over rival Lobos
BY GEORGE WATKINS • gwatkins@thecalifornian.com • November 16, 2009
The crowd sang "Nah, nah, nah, nah, hey, hey, good-bye," the stadium sound system blared Kool & The Gang's song "Celebration," and the Hartnell College football team whooped it up at midfield and hoisted the President's Trophy for all to see.
After a three-year struggle, it was happy days are here again for the Hartnell College football team.
The Panthers gave an emphatic and enthusiastic end to the season Saturday night by beating rival Monterey Peninsula College 55-34 in front of an energetic crowd at Salinas High Stadium.
Considering how badly Hartnell has suffered during the last three years (combined record 3-27), this may have been the sweetest 5-5 finish in Hartnell history.
It also earned Hartnell's third-year coach Matt Collins his "Beat MPC" merit badge.
It was Hartnell's first win against the Lobos in four years.
Among those congratulating Collins on his first win over MPC was the guy he replaced as coach at the start of the 2007 season, Larry Souza.
"Now you're a Panther!" Souza told him. "Now you're a Panther!"
"They love you when you win, I guess," Collins said with a wry smile. "They wanted to egg me the first two years."
After going 0-10 in 2007 and 2-8 last year, Hartnell battled back this season to finish 4-1 in the Coast Conference — its first winning conference record since 2005.
De Anza beat San Jose City Saturday to finish as conference champions at 5-0.
"We knew from day one this was going to be a long process," Collins said. "And we're nowhere near where we need to be. But that's all part of the growing pains. We're on the right track."
Not only did the win over the Lobos (3-7 overall) extend Hartnell's lead in the series to 37-24, but it may go a long way to improving the local recruiting process that has been just as much of a challenge as the schedule.
"We just want the student-athletes in this area to know we want them to be part of Hartnell football and not always to be looking to go to the next best place," Collins said. "We want this to be the next best place."
One that got away was MPC receiver Bret Chernetsky from Palma, who caught 12 passes for 131 yards for the Lobos.
But the Panthers had their share of standouts as well. They broke tackles and completed passes all night long.
Ricky Rodwell rushed for 132 yards and one touchdown, Dwayne Gatlin completed 15 of 22 passes for 253 yards in the first half, then switched positions and caught two passes for 45 yards in the second half.
The game-breaking score was turned in by Jarvious Smith, who grabbed a punt in heavy traffic while in full stride and raced 56 yards for a touchdown to give Hartnell a 41-20 lead with 8:20 left in the third quarter.
Sione Polota ended things with Hartnell's second interception of the game.
It was a triumphant finish to what has been three seasons of seemingly never-ending challenges.
"Most of it was done with a third-string quarterback, six offensive linemen — we were down to five defensive lineman and had receivers filling in as defensive backs — with no real subs," Collins said. "We were paper thin. It was a testament to their character and hard work."
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The crowd sang "Nah, nah, nah, nah, hey, hey, good-bye," the stadium sound system blared Kool & The Gang's song "Celebration," and the Hartnell College football team whooped it up at midfield and hoisted the President's Trophy for all to see.
After a three-year struggle, it was happy days are here again for the Hartnell College football team.
The Panthers gave an emphatic and enthusiastic end to the season Saturday night by beating rival Monterey Peninsula College 55-34 in front of an energetic crowd at Salinas High Stadium.
Considering how badly Hartnell has suffered during the last three years (combined record 3-27), this may have been the sweetest 5-5 finish in Hartnell history.
It also earned Hartnell's third-year coach Matt Collins his "Beat MPC" merit badge.
It was Hartnell's first win against the Lobos in four years.
Among those congratulating Collins on his first win over MPC was the guy he replaced as coach at the start of the 2007 season, Larry Souza.
"Now you're a Panther!" Souza told him. "Now you're a Panther!"
"They love you when you win, I guess," Collins said with a wry smile. "They wanted to egg me the first two years."
After going 0-10 in 2007 and 2-8 last year, Hartnell battled back this season to finish 4-1 in the Coast Conference — its first winning conference record since 2005.
De Anza beat San Jose City Saturday to finish as conference champions at 5-0.
"We knew from day one this was going to be a long process," Collins said. "And we're nowhere near where we need to be. But that's all part of the growing pains. We're on the right track."
Not only did the win over the Lobos (3-7 overall) extend Hartnell's lead in the series to 37-24, but it may go a long way to improving the local recruiting process that has been just as much of a challenge as the schedule.
"We just want the student-athletes in this area to know we want them to be part of Hartnell football and not always to be looking to go to the next best place," Collins said. "We want this to be the next best place."
One that got away was MPC receiver Bret Chernetsky from Palma, who caught 12 passes for 131 yards for the Lobos.
But the Panthers had their share of standouts as well. They broke tackles and completed passes all night long.
Ricky Rodwell rushed for 132 yards and one touchdown, Dwayne Gatlin completed 15 of 22 passes for 253 yards in the first half, then switched positions and caught two passes for 45 yards in the second half.
The game-breaking score was turned in by Jarvious Smith, who grabbed a punt in heavy traffic while in full stride and raced 56 yards for a touchdown to give Hartnell a 41-20 lead with 8:20 left in the third quarter.
Sione Polota ended things with Hartnell's second interception of the game.
It was a triumphant finish to what has been three seasons of seemingly never-ending challenges.
"Most of it was done with a third-string quarterback, six offensive linemen — we were down to five defensive lineman and had receivers filling in as defensive backs — with no real subs," Collins said. "We were paper thin. It was a testament to their character and hard work."
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