Chaparral football team uses ground attack and defense to beat San Jacinto – Press Enterprise

SAN JACINTO — With injuries to Chaparral’s regular running backs, coach Andrew Ramer had to come up with something.

Ramer turned to Jayce Venable, a junior who primarily is a defensive back.

Venable, who has played varsity since he was a freshman, had only five carries in his career entering Thursday’s game. Those five attempts came in last week’s victory, and it was an impressive audition as Venable gained 95 yards. He made up for his lack of experience on Thursday night, gaining 247 yards on 33 carries and leading Chaparral to a 20-6 victory against San Jacinto.

The workload drew no complaints from Venable.

“I love it,” he said. “I want to get as many yards as I can and do my part helping our team.

Venable had seven consecutive runs on Chaparral’s 10-play, 50-yard drive which ended with quarterback Dash Beierly’s 3-yard touchdown with 5:07 remaining in the first quarter. Beierly also ran for a touchdown in the first half and had opportunities while San Jacinto’s defense was concentrating on Venable.

“We were able to control the line of scrimmage and ran the ball,” Ramer said. “I’m also proud of our defense, because they (San Jacinto) scored over 60 points last week.”

San Jacinto (0-3) had a chance to tie the score after Beierly’s second touchdown run. The Tigers drove from their 32 and reached the Chaparral 14. Dillon Gresham, who caught a touchdown pass in the first half, converted two fourth downs during the 16-play drive over the third and fourth quarters.

The drive ended when quarterback Sebastian Wood’s pass to Gresham was incomplete. San Jacinto coach Aric Galliano thought a pass interference call should have been made on that play.

Ramer wants to bring Chapparal’s intensity level up since they play Temecula Valley next week. Ramer was an offensive lineman for Chaparral from 2001 to 2005. Even though the came is a nonleague affair, he said Temecula Valley is the team’s biggest rival.

“It’s Bear Week and we have to be locked in,” Ramer told his team after the game. “The intensity picks up.”

Ramer was happy with the team’s play in the first three weeks. “We faced three good programs,” he said.

Galliano thought his team improved over the previous week. The good news last year was that the 2022 team was 13-3 and reached the state final. The bad news was that 35 seniors graduated.

“That was the best we ever did in school history,” Galliano said. “We have a lot of sophomores and there is a lot of talent. They have bought in to what we are trying to.