It can be hard to translate regular season success to the playoffs, but Coalinga had no problem doing just that on Friday. They slipped by the Shafter Generals 34-33. The defensive woes were uncharacteristic for the Horned Toads, who until this matchup were averaging 9.14 points allowed.
It was another big night for Noah Tasi, who threw for 281 yards and four touchdowns, and also rushed for 61 yards and a touchdown. Those 61 rushing yards gave him a new career-high. Dylan Teixeira was another key player, picking up 163 receiving yards and three touchdowns.
Coalinga didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. The picks came courtesy of Jd Reed and Teixeira. Coalinga got some further help from Jaden Pena: he made 16 total tackles (1.5 for loss) and defended three passes.
Ezekiel Osborne and Mariyon Sloan certainly did their best on Friday to avoid the loss. Osborne threw for 268 yards and four touchdowns, while Sloan picked up 76 receiving yards and two touchdowns. Osborne has been hot recently, having posted three or more passing touchdowns the last three times he's played.
The win for Coalinga keeps them at an undefeated 14-0. Those good results were due in large part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 36.4 points per game. As for Shafter, they moved to 11-2 with that loss, which also ended their seven-game winning streak.
Coalinga will be playing in front of their home fans against Highland at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Coalinga's defense has only allowed 9.1 points per game this season, so Highland's offense will have their work cut out for them. Shafter does not have any more games scheduled as of now.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
