JC football: Fresno City looks to snap two-game skid

Chances of a NorCal playoff berth or a Valley Conference title are all but gone for the Fresno City College football team.

The NorCal National Division 10th-ranked Rams have two straight losses heading into a 1 p.m. Saturday game at No. 5 Modesto and trail No. 4 Chabot by two games with two to play.

Fresno City, however, can position itself for postseason consideration, likely the State Center Bowl, with one more victory. After facing Modesto (5-3, 2-1), the Rams (4-4, 1-2) wrap up the regular season against Sequoias on Nov. 14 at Ratcliffe Stadium.

“We’re not feeling sorry for ourselves,” coach Tony Caviglia said. “Our plan is to go up there and play our best and win this football game.”

In three of their four losses, the Rams have lost by seven points or less. The wins, with the exception of a 19-point margin over Laney, have been by 10 or less.

“Thought we would be competitive, and I think we are competitive,” Caviglia said. “We’ve been in every game we’ve played. Either played good enough to win or good enough to lose, and a lot of it has to do with experience. We have some holes on our team (and) we’ll try to get better. All good teams will always try to get better at their weakest link, and we’re working on trying to put a complete team on the field.”

Defensively, the Rams have not managed much of a pushback. Their nine sacks rank 64th in the state and their seven interceptions rank 51st.

“We’re at a point right now that we really don’t have to worry about anything other than just preparing ourselves to play better football,” Caviglia said. “We’re a good team, but we’re not playing great football and we spend a lot of time in meetings, spend a lot of time talking as a team and within our position groups to try to see what we have to do to be able to play better football.

“Problem is, we’re a young football team. If you count, we have about 65 new players. Not all freshmen but new players. It’s taking us a little longer to get our packages learned and taught … and maybe we try to do too much, I don’t know. We really have to make sure we have our fundamentals in place with the things we preach in this program. Those are the things we aren’t getting done. If we play well and win a game or two … postseason will be in the cards, but right now we’re just focusing on just getting one win.”

Et cetera – Chabot can clinch a tie for the conference title with a win over Sequoias. The Giants (4-4), meanwhile, are trying to get back into the win column after starting the season 4-0. They also have lost 17 of their past 18 conference games, dating to 2012. COS has 24 sophomores playing in their final home game.

▪ West Hills, ranked second in NorCal in the second-tier American Division, will attempt to run its winning streak to seven against Merced (3-5, 1-3). The Falcons (7-1, 4-0) with a win would set up a showdown with Hartnell for the Golden Coast Conference title next Saturday.

▪ Reedley taces a tough task against American top-ranked Hartnell (8-0). The Tigers (5-3, 3-1), however, have won two straight.

This story was originally published November 6, 2015 at 9:23 PM with the headline "JC football: Fresno City looks to snap two-game skid."