"The teams were toe-to-toe all night long, and the stats show why a Chico missed extra point in the second quarter was the difference. Chico's offense rolled up 250 yards and PV tallied 248 and neither ever manhandled the opposition. It went back-and-forth all night long ..."

October 13, 2007
By LELAND GORDON-Sports Writer

For some Chico High fans, players and coaches, it was like a funeral. For others it was a celebration of life, one of those events where people look at the bright side after facing adversity. For all, it was an amazing crosstown rivalry football game that featured every ingredient required to create an epic Eastern Athletic League battle. Pleasant Valley triumphed in Almond Bowl XXXVII by a 13-12 score and a surging mob of navy blue and white stormed the thrashed University Stadium playing surface after PV extended its record to 7-0, 4-0 in the EAL. With two minutes left in the game, though, it was Panther nation that thought it would be celebrating in the mud and relegating Viking players to stunned faces and disappointment.

PV receiver Sean Reynolds only caught one pass all night from quarterback Eric Hoffman, and he made the most of his opportunity when he caught a pass near the line of scrimmage, juked the cornerback and sprinted furiously for the end zone from 48 yards away. It was a clutch play on a comeback drive to win a huge game, and Reynolds only had one thing on his mind as he zoomed to paydirt with two minutes left.

"Don't slip, don't slip, don't slip," the senior receiver said he remembered thinking as he raced down the right sideline. "It's amazing. I'm so happy we won."

For as much elation as there was on the PV side, there was an equal amount of deflation on the Chico side. But that's not to say that Panther players and coaches considered the tense loss reflective of a lack of desire, talent or anything else.

"That was a great high school football game, the kids played their guts out," Chico coach Mike Cooper said after the game. "What I told them, they're a 5-2 football team and they're a very good football team. Hopefully this is great motivation to go throughout the last three games."

Chico is now 2-2 in the EAL.

Each team had opportunities to win the game and each team had opportunities to lose the game. PV suffered from a case of the fumbles and gave the rock to Chico three different times, including twice in the third quarter. Chico seized a 12-7 lead on a Nate Anderson 1-yard run after PV running back Evan Busby coughed up the ball and the Panthers went 65 yards in a little more than seven minutes after Andrew Medearis made the recovery. Brandon Nickas was stripped of the ball on PV's next drive and Chico took it all the way to the 6-yard line on 10 plays.

But Chico failed to convert a fourth-and-3 from the 6, and then got the ball back in stellar field position after a shanked punt but went four-and-out on the next drive.

That's when the momentum shifted to the Vikings and their faithful.

Hoffman took over with 2:50 left and found Busby for 13 yards and Brett McMurray for 20 before Reynolds' heroics. PV coach Bill Haley made sure first to say how much he admired Chico's effort, and then said he wasn't convinced that Reynolds was going to score.

"I thought he was going to get knocked out at the 10-yard line," Haley said. "My hat's off to Chico. They've got some guys who are warriors. I hope we see each other in the playoffs."

The teams were toe-to-toe all night long, and the stats show why a Chico missed extra point in the second quarter was the difference. Chico's offense rolled up 250 yards and PV tallied 248 and neither ever manhandled the opposition. It went back-and-forth all night long, leaving Chico defensive lineman Tanner Wakefield to simply say, "It just didn't work out for us. I'm sure we're all a little angry right now."

It did work out for Busby and the Vikings, as the senior led his team with 119 yards on 16 carries. He scored the first touchdown of the game on the final play of the first quarter when he used a block from Reynolds to burn his way 56 yards to the end zone, which was dwarfed by a giant television screen standing nearby.

"I've never lost an Almond Bowl before. This is the best feeling I've ever had," said Busby, the three-year varsity player.

Chico's Kayhan Karatekeli scored from a yard away in the second quarter after Chico put together a nine-play drive to move 80 yards, but Kyle Nichols' fateful extra point was wide right. Karatekeli led his team with 79 yards on 19 carries.

Haley's happy his team is still undefeated, but he also knows just how close Chico was to beating his Vikings. It may take a while for the reality of the situation to set in for him.

"It just didn't turn out for them," he said. "Sometimes as a coach you don't enjoy it like you should because you're alw