COS roundup: Catch up on football, basketball, soccer news
COS football finishes regular season on a high note
Last Saturday, the COS Football team played a home game against Contra Costa, and won 43-24. The Giants ended the regular season 6-4, guaranteeing them a bowl game. COS will find out its opponent this upcoming Sunday.
During the first quarter in the Contra Costa game, both teams managed to score only once, with COS’ touchdown, an eight-yard run from Danny Olivera (Firebaugh), coming with a missed extra point to end the first quarter down 7-6.
However, that script was flipped onto its head in the second quarter and beyond. After being down 14-9 with 6 minutes to play in the first half, a rushing touchdown from Nathan Lamb (Tulare Union) put the Giants in the lead 16-14, from which they never looked back.
“Nate read the defense on fourth and one from midfield. We called a QB sneak to try and pick up the first down. Nate saw the defense crowded over our center, he took the ball outside of the tackle and ran it for 39 yards. It was a huge spark for our team,” COS head coach Travis Burkett said.
On the ensuing kickoff, Tokyo Gordon recovered a fumble for the Giants, and took it for another 41-yard touchdown. The Giants led at halftime 23-14.
Lamb connected on 13 of his 21 attempts, totaling 189 yards passing and two touchdowns. Lamb also rushed for 56 yards including his touchdown.
"You know the biggest thing that I hope our fans see, is that we have a bunch of players who respect the process, who love and learn to love the process," Burkett said.
For rushing, players Danny Olivera and Tairyn Johnson (Tulare Western) both had over 10 carries with over 50 yards. Olivera led the duo with 61 yards on 13 attempts.
Three separate players had over 20 receiving yards, those being Johnson with 27, Anthony Valencia with 25, and Willie Neal Jr. (Fort Myers) with 131, making up the bulk of reception yardage on the day.
Six COS defensive players recorded a tackle for a loss including Dorrian Felix (Fort Myers), Tokyo Gordon (Adairsville), Michael Gary (Fort Myers), Isaak Guzman (Porterville), Isaiah Jackson (Tulare Union), and Aaron Moreno (Selma). Gordon and Gary recorded sacks as well.
“We gotta get healthy," Burkett said. "I mean we play a physical brand of football. We practice hard and train hard. We need to get healthy, we need to get fresh. Then we need to get ready.”
COS men’s basketball stays hot at Cuesta Tournament
The COS men’s basketball team played in the Hinson Tire Pro Winter Crossover and won both of the games they played in, including an 80-70 victory against Cuesta on Friday, and a 74-64 win versus Allan Hancock on Saturday.
Against Cuesta, Javohn Garcia (Brewster Academy) led the team with 14 points, followed up by Cameron Clark (TD Prep) with 12 as well as Tyjean Burrell (Antelope) and Alex Argandar (Modesto Christian) who both scored 11.
In the win against Hancock, Burrell and Argandar led the team with 17 points, and Clark scored 13 points. Terri Miller (Clovis North) scored 12 points and Tyree Gill (Burbank) had 11.
Their next game will take place at home, on Thursday at 7 p.m against LA Southwest as a part of the COS classic, which will feature three games on Thursday and three games on Friday.
Before the Giants tip off at 7 p.m., the No. 1 team in the North (and state), will take on the top-ranked team in the south in Fullerton College at 5 p.m.
COS will play again Fullerton on Friday. The Giants are currently No. 2 in the state behind San Francisco.
COS volleyball finishes the regular season with sweep of Coalinga
The COS volleyball team swept both Porterville and West Hills Coalinga 3-0 this past week, rounding out their season and putting them at 21-7 overall. In conference, they ended up at 14-2.
Mia Gilcrest (Redwood) finished the regular season as the state leader in kills with 533. She also leads the state in 5.61 kills per set, one of the best years in COS history.
COS volleyball now awaits word on the state playoffs.
COS women’s basketball stays undefeated
The women’s team has won their first six games, including a 3-0 record this past weekend in the Moorpark tournament. COS defeated Moorpark 58-51, East LA 71-59, and LA Trade-Tech 83-54.
Against Moorpark, Camila Barreno (Florida Christian) led the scoring with 21 points, with Maria Dias and Geizzle Jones (Bullard) adding on 12 for themselves in the game.
Alana Roberts (Sierra Pacific) was the leading scorer against East LA with 18 points. Dias added 12 more to her season total, along with Jones who put up 10.
For the last game of the trip against LA Trade-Tech, Tiana Holland (Washington Union) and Dias both had 15 points. Jones and Roberts added 14 each, which contributed to the 83 points total.
Their next game will be at home against Riverside College on Nov. 18 in the COS Crossover at 7:30 p.m. COS will also face Pasadena at home this Saturday at 2 p.m.
Men’s soccer gets ready for playoffs
The COS men’s soccer team won their final game of the 2022 regular season against West Hills-Lemoore, 2-0. Striker Marques Carillo (Golden West) scored the only two goals of the game, one at the 75-minute mark and the other with 85 minutes left.
The team finished with a 10-6-4 record for this year and will be hosting Canada in the first round of the playoffs this Wednesday at 2 p.m. at COS.
COS women’s soccer earns playoff berth
The women’s squad won their last game of the season this past Friday, Nov. 11, 4-1, against Merced.
Gissel Mora (Mission Oak) scored two goals, followed by Marycruz Nerto (Linsday) and Litsy Munoz (Mission Oak) who both scored one goal each.
They finished 10-8-1 record on the year. Munoz led the team in goals scored and finished the year tied for 44th in the state with 11 goals on the year.
The COS women’s soccer team will travel this Wednesday to Evergreen Valley College in San Jose for the first round of the state playoffs.
This article originally appeared on Visalia Times-Delta: COS roundup: Catch up on football, basketball, soccer news
