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Thursday, Nov. 19, 2009

Shawn Jansen: Fly boys near rushing milestone

The numbers jump off the page.

First, there's Corey Chapman.

The explosive Buhach Colony junior is a highlight waiting to happen.

Chapman has racked up 1,546 rushing yards and 19 touchdowns despite missing almost two games because of injuries.

Chapman alone is a headache for any defensive coordinator.

It almost seems comical to call Dallon Muse a second option.

All Muse has done is power his way to 1,152 yards and 14 touchdowns on the ground.

Then there's Jarrell Davis.

The fly-sweep specialist has rushed for 977 yards and 10 touchdowns. leaving him just 23 yards away from giving Buhach Colony three 1,000-yard backs.

How rare is that?

Buhach Colony coach Kevin Swartwood was the offensive coordinator during Merced's glory years in the 90s.

Merced always seemed to have a stable of running backs, but Swartwood doesn't ever remember having three 1,000-yard rushers on the same team.

"Not that I remember," Swartwood said. "We would have three or four guys that would run the fly sweep most of the time. We would get 1,000 yards from three positions, but I don't think we ever had three guys with a 1,000 yards."

While the feat is impressive, the numbers don't surprise BC's three-headed monster.

"We talked about doing it as freshmen," Muse said. "That was the goal for all three of us when we got to varsity."

The trio has helped Buhach Colony (6-4) reach the playoffs for the first time in school history.

Buhach Colony will be a big underdog when it faces perennial power St. Mary's (10-0) on Friday night.

"It's pretty exciting," Davis said. "Everybody always thinks Buhach Colony football is garbage. We still hear it to this day.

"To be on the first Buhach team in school history to make the playoffs is pretty cool. We're always going to be able to look back and say we were on that first playoff team."

Sharing the ball hasn't been a problem for the trio.

They know they'll get their opportunities to make plays.

"It just depends because there are different kinds of nights," Davis said. "Some games it will be an inside run night. Other nights it will be a sweep night. That's how it was last week against Los Banos. The ball is distributed between the three of us pretty evenly."

Still, Davis looks forward to those sweep nights.

"I'm not going to lie, I love sweep nights," Davis said.

It appears Davis and Muse will get all the carries against St. Mary's.

Chapman left last week's game against Los Banos in the second quarter with a shoulder injury and his season could be over.

His shoulder was in a sling on Wednesday and he hasn't practiced all week.

Reaching the playoffs could just be a stepping stone for Buhach Colony this year.

It's scary to think all three running backs are just juniors and will be back next year.

"Those guys are big time," Los Banos coach Dennis Stubbs said. "Everybody has known about them since Pop Warner football. They've won at every level they've played at."

How good does the trio think they'll be next year?

"Unstoppable, that's what I think," Muse said. "We're going to be an unstoppable force, a three-headed monster."

For the first time since 2003, both the Merced and Golden Valley football teams will both miss the playoffs.

Golden Valley showed great improvement on offense. Sophomore quarterback Tyler Arnsberg and senior fullback Matt DeLora rushed for more than 1,000 yards.

However, Golden Valley's defense struggled to slow opponents down.

Merced finally bit off more than it could chew with its tough schedule.

An 0-4 start put Merced in a position where it had to win a Central California Conference title to make the playoffs, which it almost did until a shocking 49-7 collapse against Pitman last week.

Don't expect Merced to start loading its schedule with cupcakes.

Merced has already scheduled another game with Fresno Edison next year and added Clovis West to the schedule.

Atwater volleyball coach Toni Muratore isn't just hoping deep playoff runs will become common for her teams, she expects them.

The second-year coach led Atwater to a perfect run through the CCC and a semifinal berth in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division II playoffs.

After Tuesday night's playoff loss to Sacramento St. Francis, Muratore thanked her seniors for helping lay the foundation of what she wants her program to become.

"They are the building blocks for what we want the Atwater program to become," Muratore said. "We expect to be in the semifinals and finals every year."

Shawn Jansen is a Sun-Star sports reporter. He can be reached at 385-2462 or via e-mail at sjansen@mercedsun-star.com.