The following was in the Record Searchlight earlier today and kind of tells it all on Shasta Football....

A baseball-like formula at quarterback and better second-half defensive effort allowed the Knights to claim its home opener for 2009.

Led by freshman quarterback Matt Summers-Johnson and then sophomore Cole Johnston, the Shasta College football team overcame an early double-digit deficit to beat Mendocino 31-26 at Memorial Stadium on Saturday.

Summers-Johnson started the game and helped the Knights rally to a 24-20 lead in the third quarter, throwing for two touchdowns and rushing for one.

Johnston, the sophomore from Foothill High School, then came in and capably ran the Knights version of the Wildcat offense for a quarter and half. He threw a touchdown pass and led the Shasta offense on a 10-minute fourth-quarter stroll to run down the clock and preserve Shasta’s lead.

“It was awesome to get the home opener,” Johnston said afterwards. “We want to come out and give the home fans a good show and at least come out it with a win.”

For a young team, the victory over Mendocino provides a big moral boost. Shasta (1-1) lost at Laney 34-19 to start the season. The Knights went 9-2 last year, breaking a string of fruitless seasons. A victory over the Eagles after falling behind early gave an indication that the Knights aren’t about to return to those losing ways.

“It was a big win for us,” Knights linebacker Zach Gibbins said. “It gives us a lot of confidence. We’ve been working hard, so it was nice to see all the effort rewarded tonight.”

Ironically in the first half, it was the supposedly still green Shasta offense that bailed out a more experienced Knights defense as the Eagles (1-1) built early leads of 14-3 and then 20-10 late in the second quarter.

Shasta came in expecting to face a passing team after Mendocino won a 55-46 shootout over Hartnell last week.

But the Eagles came out running the ball behind bruising Sterling Jackson, a 215-pound sophomore from Stone Mountain, Ga. Mendocino marched 69 yards on its opening series, including a fake punt leading to an 11-yard pass completion on fourth-and-9, before Jackson punched the ball in from three yards out for a quick 7-0 Mendocino lead.

Shasta drove the back on its first possession, but Abdu Reda missed on a 32-yard field goal attempt. The Knights turned to Kelly Crowley out of University Prep on the next field goal try and the freshman nailed a 36-yarder less than minute into a second quarter to put Shasta on the board.

The Knights early-season troubles have mustly dealt with secondary breakdowns and it bit them again. Kyle Yanusevich completed a 58-yard pass to Montel Nix-Fleming all the way down to the Shasta 5-yard line. Yanusevich, who briefly came on in relief of Eagles starter Jake Strickler, then hit 6-foot-3 receiver Tommy Jones on a 5-yard fade route for a touchdown and a 14-3 Mendocino lead.

Shasta went three-and-out on three straight incompletions by Summers-Johnson, looking as green as their uniforms in that brief series. But the Knights defense started to get a hang for what the Eagles offense was doing and delivered and three-and-out series of its own.

The Knights then rebounded by featuring sophomore tight end Saxon Schultz prominently in the pass game. Schultz caught four passes for 31 yards on the next drive, including a 6-yard TD catch from Summers-Johnson with 4:40 left in the first half.

However, Mendocino marched right back down and Matt McHenry plunged in from two yards out with 50 seconds left, putting the Eagles up 20-10.

However, the Knights made a key drive against the clock.

Summers-Johnson hit Emerald Guillet on a 34-yard pass play as the Knights went 69 yards downfield. On a third-and-10, Summers-Johnson hit Schultz for a 14-yard gain down to the Mendocino 10. Johnston caught the next pass for nine yards before, with four seconds left in the half, Summers-Johnson snuck in from a yard out.

Summers-Johnson then let the Knights to another score on the opening second-half drive, getting a fortuitous bounce along the way. On a second-and-9 from the Eagles 10, Summers-Johnson tried to throw to Brian Brown to the right side, but an Eagles defensive end tipped it at the line. The ball went all the way over to the left side where Mark Brooks came sliding in running a slant pattern to snare a 10-yard touchdown pass with 13:02 left in the third quarter.

Armed with the lead for the first time, the Knights started unveiling its multiple threats on offense.

Summers-Johnson went 17-of-27 for 168 yards before giving way to Johnston in the third quarter. Schultz had eight catches for 64 yards and Brooks had six catches for 61 yards.

But it was the Knights offensive line and the running game that took over for the rest of the game.

Whether it was sweeps for Manny Barragan (14 carries, 88 yards), fullback dives by Marcus Sannadan or runs up the middle by Trevor Rook and Xavier Robinson, the Knights marched 80 yards downfield before taking to the air when Johnston found Brown in the end zone for a 14-yard touchdown pass on a third-and-13 with 13:09 left to play.

Johnston finished 2-of-4 for 30 yards.

“It’s just fun knowing you can help out the team in so many ways,” Johnston said.

Mendocino drove the ball downfield, but Strickler overthrew an open receiver and Knights safety Austin Cantrell picked it off and returned it 11 yards.

“We didn’t make any halftime adjustments,” Knights linebacker Chace Taylor said. “The coaches just told us to keep playing our assignments.”

That was when the Knights offense went on a 10-minute stroll in the fourth quarter, going 79 yards on 17 plays. Johnston ran for eight yards to convert a key fourth-and-7 play to keep the drive alive at one point. The Knights ended up going for it on fourth-and-goal from the 2, but Sannadan was stuffed for a 1-yard loss.

Shasta High product Brooks Beaudette then came in at quarterback and led the Eagles 97 yards the other way. But his 42-yard touchdown pass to Trent Scatena ended up being the final play of the game.

“It was a good win and a good game for us,” Taylor said. “Mendocino is a good team and I didn’t think we had it until all the way near the end.”