Laney keeps running and winning

Eagles take fourth straight; to play at Chabot

The Laney College football team keeps on running and keeps on winning.

For the fourth game in a row (all victories), the host Eagles ran for over (or close to) 200 yards, gaining 195 rushing yards in a 35–13 victory over West Hills College of Coalinga on Oct. 18 to win their Golden Gate Conference opener.

[caption id=”attachment_191" align=”aligncenter” width=”630"]

Laney running back Tony Parnell (1) follows Wendell Taiese (78) against West Hills College.[/caption]

The Eagles’ next game is against rival Chabot College in Hayward on Saturday, Oct. 26. Game time is 6 p.m.

Laney and the Gladiators finished as co-champions of the GGC last season, both with 3–1 records. Chabot beat the Eagles 37–36 in overtime on Oct. 19, 2012, at Laney.

In the 48 years of Laney football, the two teams have played 35 times, with Chabot holding an 18–17 lead.

But all that was in the future when the Eagles played West Hills.

The victory was triply sweet. Not only did Laney win, but also the victory came on Alumni Night and after a pre-game ceremony that honored the Peralta Board of Trustees and Laney President Elnora Webb for their efforts in upgrading the athletic facilities at Laney and in the construction of the new physical education facility adjacent to the football field.

In the West Hills game, the Eagles got off to a quick start when, after the opening kickoff, quarterback Garrett Anderson threw a 31-yard pass to Vandy Keobounheug to the Falcons’ 47 and running back Valentino Miles ran 47 yards for a touchdown on the next play that put Laney up 7–0 with just 38 seconds gone in the first quarter.

Laney would tack on two more score in the period after West Hills had cut the lead to 7–6. First, linebacker Eddie Heard forced a fumble and recovered it in the West Hills end zone for 14–6 and then Jamal Mayo returned a punt 62 yards for another score for 21–6.

Miles ran 27 yards for his second touchdown with 5:55 left in the third quarter and Tony Parnell ran 45 yards for the final Laney touchdown with 2:11 left in the game.

Miles rushed for 139 yards on 14 carries and scored two touchdowns. Parnell carried five times for 57 yards and a score. Laney finished with 195 net yards rushing and 157 yards passing.

Anderson completed 6 of 14 passes for 116 yards, including a 50-yarder to Jaen Avery, who finished with 5 catches for 88 yards.