‘We wanted to make a statement’: Antelope blows out Inderkum to win CVC title
There was a point during the season that Mike Byerly struggled to get players to play on his team.
Byerly, the first-year coach at Antelope High School, is the program’s third head coach in three years. If players didn’t fully buy-in at first, they sure are now.
The 10th-ranked Titans continued their magical season with a 35-6 win over No. 6 Inderkum on Friday night in Natomas. When the final buzzer sounded, starting lineman Culby Perkins and Angelo Gay gave their coach a Gatorade bath to celebrate a likely Capital Valley Conference championship. It’s the third time in program history Antelope has started a season 8-0.
This isn’t Byerly’s first go-around as a head coach. He was previously the head coach of Lincoln of Stockton in the early 2000s before taking a break for 10 years to recharge and spend time with family. He joined the Antelope staff as an assistant six years ago and worked his way up to the head job.
“It’s awesome to be here right now,” Byerly said. “There was a point in the season where it was hard to get players to even come out to play football. (It was about) getting the players to believe. They wanted to make everyone believe, too.”
He added, “The kids have worked so hard. We have great character kids. … Our kids are leaders around campus. One of the things I’m really excited about is none of our varsity kids came ineligible because of grades which is really hard to do in a football program in the middle of the season. They cheered as much as they did about that than winning the championship right now.”
Antelope star running back Curron Borders ran for 140 yards and three touchdowns. Jasiah Bateman passed for 148 yards and had a 17-yard touchdown pass to Joseph Martinez. Jordyn Saechao returned a failed onside kick attempt for a 40-yard touchdown.
“This win means a lot because it means we are getting pulled up to division ll now,” Antelope quarterback Jasiah Bateman said. “We are ready for it. We want to be in D2. We made a statement tonight.”
The junior quarterback added, “Our team is getting better and better every week. This was the best performance I’ve seen. Our offensive line, running backs and receivers were great.”
The Antelope defense stepped up and forced two turnovers on downs inside the red zone. Amir Pharms and Xavier Marez both had sacks. Phrams recovered a fumble and Martinez had an interception.
Antelope led 21-0 at halftime and 28-0 at the end of the third. Inderkum scored its lone touchdown with four minutes left on a Jayden Johnson 3-yard touchdown pass to Giovanni Jorlen. Inderkum’s leading receiver was Christian Benham-Sheppard, who finished with five catches for 97 yards.
Antelope will have a bye next week before capping the regular season on the road against River Valley. Inderkum (5-2) plays Yuba City next week on the road.