JC football: Fresno City looks to learn from tough defeat

Despite losing to City College of San Francisco last week, Fresno City defensive back Tashan Finley sees it as a positive.

The Rams certainly would have liked to win, but losing can be a benefit moving forward.

“We’ve just got to come better prepared,” Finley said. “Just need to execute better and play all four quarters.”

The Rams didn’t maintain their play through the entire game, trading leads until San Francisco scored 13 straight points in the fourth and held on for a 39-34 victory.

Quarterback Christian Rossi completed 26 of 46 passes for 349 yards and two touchdowns, but threw three interceptions as Fresno City committed four turnovers overall.

The Rams (2-1) will have a chance to redeem themselves, facing Butte in a nonconference game at 6 p.m. Saturday in Oroville.

“Last week was like a moral victory. Don’t like to use that term very often,” coach Tony Caviglia said. “Our kids got a little taste what it takes (to lose). We competed against a team that’s really good. We were our own worst enemy in that game. We did a few things differently and we figured four or five plays go our way we win that game.”

Caviglia said his team – fifth in the Northern California National Division rankings and No. 12 in the state – is not taking the Roadrunners lightly, even though they are 0-3.

“Butte College is an established football team,” he said. “Don’t care about their record. They’re just starting to get rolling. They’re going to have some success this season, no question about it. Butte will have full confidence and they’re going to be hungry for their first victory.”

In their goal to get better each week, Rams players agreed that it starts with cleaning up the plays at practice.

“We all take fault for it,” said receiver Kailon Carter, who has 21 receptions for 272 yards and two touchdowns. “There are some plays we need to make and brush up in practice, and we’re working hard on it. We all took responsibility for Saturday. There were some things we could’ve done. It’s not just a one-person thing. There are 22 guys that go out there, maybe more depending on the rotation. There are some plays we need to make.”

Rams running back Nate Jones, who picked up his first rushing touchdown last week, expects improvement.

“After the game, we have a short memory about it,” he said. “Our mindset is to win out because as of right now we’re walking around with a chip on our shoulder. We felt we shouldn’t have lost that game. We don’t want to do that again. What we do is go day-by-day. Every day, we have to get better and we can’t backtrack.

“If we prepare and do everything right in practice that leads into the game, we have nothing to worry about. (Butte) is a really good team and we have to execute, and if you don’t, then they’re going to do what they have to do to get that win.”

This story was originally published September 25, 2015 at 6:30 PM with the headline "JC football: Fresno City looks to learn from tough defeat."