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Patterson football shuts out Livingston on Halloween
LIVINGSTON — There were lots of ways to celebrate All Hallows Eve.
One was to take in a horror movie marathon, starting with Alfred Hitchcock’s “Psycho” and ending with John Carpenter’s “Halloween.”
Of course, if you’re a Livingston football fan, chances are you were plenty frightened by the halftime score of Friday’s game against Patterson High.
The Tigers took a 41-0 lead into halftime before soundly defeating the host Wolves 44-0.
With two weeks left in league play, the Tigers (7-1, 3-0 Western Athletic Conference) are officially wreaking havoc on opponents and causing nightmares wherever they play.
“We came in here planning on working hard and getting a win,” Patterson’s Imani Brown said. “We practiced hard all week, and we came out here and just made it happen.”
For Livingston, instead of being terrified by a masked man wielding a chainsaw, it was a guy in a headset calling defensive plays that induced fans’ screams.
“I believe that by repeatedly instilling the notions of ‘Every team is the best team’ and ‘We’re going to get everyone’s best each week,’ our kids have avoided playing down to any opponent,” Patterson coach Rob Cozart said. “It’s more of a philosophy than something that you actually do in practice.”
Patterson’s Imani Brown took the first play from scrimmage 80 yards up the sideline for a touchdown and a 7-0 lead. Brown finished his monster game with eight carries for 182 yards and three touchdowns, all coming in the first half.
“We’ve been focusing on one week at a time, and we’re getting better,” Cozart said.
Livingston later crept into field goal range, but Emmanuel Brooks came crashing through the right side of the offensive line and blocked the 24-yard attempt.
Brown broke another huge run up field for his second touchdown — this time for 65 yards — giving the Tigers a 14-0 advantage with about 5 minutes remaining in the opening quarter.
Brooks closed the first quarter with a 55-yard touchdown scamper of his own.
After a brief Livingston possession to open the second quarter — the Wolves punted the ball away six times on Friday — the Tigers’ running game picked up where it had left off.
Larry Taylor weaved his way through Livingston’s front line, shedding tackles and side-stepping defenders for a 46-yard touchdown run.
A 47-yard Brooks carry set Brown up for a 4-yard touchdown score with two minutes, nine seconds remaining before halftime. Just enough time for the Tigers’ defense to force another punt and for reserve quarterback Wyatt Young to break lose for a 50-yard touchdown run on a keeper play.
Patterson went into the intermission with a 41-0 lead and 412 rushing yards. Livingston, on the other hand, had just 50 yards of total offense in the first half.
Cozart stretched the Tigers’ bench in the second half, sitting many of his starters for the remainder of the game. Patterson’s defense never let up, however, and the Wolves never came close to sniffing the end zone.
“Getting everyone in for quality reps in any game is great,” Cozart said. “There are a lot of good kids on this team that have sacrificed playing time to make the team better, and it’s always a good thing to reward them.”
Kicker Eric Mejia tacked on a 27-yard field goal for good measure, and the Tigers closed the door on Livingston, 44-0.
After the game, Cozart reminded his players that their 3-0 league start could be meaningless if they don’t take care of visiting Central Catholic on Friday.
“We’re in a position to start thinking league championship,” Cozart told his team. “As soon as (the Livingston game) ended, preparation for (the Central Catholic) game began.”
Contact Marc Aceves at 892-6187 or
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