Dismal season opener for Delta

BUTTE VALLEY — The Butte College football team wanted to start off the season with a strong performance. So did Delta.

Something had to give, though. On Saturday, the Mustangs were that something. 

Delta found itself on the wrong end of a lopsided contest, losing 49-7 to the Roadrunners to begin the 2018 campaign at Cowan Stadium.

It was a lopsided affair as Butte totaled 562 yards of total offense as opposed to Delta’s 117 yards of offense.

The Mustangs had 13 first downs on the afternoon, compared to Butte’s 21. The biggest stats of the day for Delta came on defense, where Anthony Giangregorio totaled 13 tackles. Bryant Bowen added eight, and Tre’ Wortham had seven.

Andrew Farley had a fumble recovery on defense for Delta, as did Zachery Franklin-Villanueva. 

Butte’s opening drive set the tone for the game as the Roadrunners were able to convert three consecutive first downs and a fourth-down conversion to set up their first score.

On fourth down, Jackson Taylor pounded the ball through the right side to get the first down at the Delta 30.

Dalton Gee carried the ball for a 10-yard gain which eventually set up his 3-yard touchdown run on a toss to the right side, giving Butte a 7-0 advantage with 4 minutes, 18 seconds left in the first quarter.

Delta (0-1) answered later in the first quarter after recovering the fumble off a muffed punt from Butte.

Delta evened the game 7-7 when quarterback Joshua Drucker connected with De’von King for a 16-yard touchdown.

Butte (1-0) retook the lead 14-7 after quarterback Brandt Hughes found Leonardo Vecchi for a 7-yard touchdown catch and his first touchdown pass of the game at the tail end of the first quarter.

Vecchi totaled 66 yards receiving with one touchdown on four catches.

“We were very comfortable and in the zone,” Vecchi said. “There’s an incredible chemistry with the team right now that I hadn’t felt last year. Right now, i’m loving it.

Salomon Navarro hauled in a 24-yard touchdown catch on a pass from Hughes that stretched the Roadrunners lead to 21-7 in the second quarter.

Butte would get one more score before halftime when tight end Juan Rodriguez turned up field for a 49-yard touchdown on a screen pass from Hughes for a 28-7 advantage.

After the break, Butte started off with a miscue after a fumble resulted in a Delta possession to start off the second half.

But on the Mustangs’ drive, Butte had back-to-back sacks, one from Michael Kutch and the other from Immanuel Woodberry, which led to another Mustangs’ punt.

Later in the quarter, Butte tacked on another score to lead 35-7, this time a 62-yard catch from Tariq Glenn from Hughes with 6:48 left in the third.

Butte put the game out of reach as Avery McCuaig rushed for a 3-yard score to put the Roadrunners ahead 42-7. McCuaig also ran in for the Roadrunners final score of the day, an 8-yard run to lead 49-7.

Delta will try to regroup for its home opener Sept. 8, with San Mateo coming to town at 1 p.m.