LEMOORE – It was a tough opening week for the Coalinga College football team and head coach Justin Berna.
Wildfires in the Coalinga area cancelled nearly the entire week of practice heading up to the Falcons' opening-day contest on Saturday against visiting College of the Siskiyous. That game was eventually moved from Coalinga's Memorial Stadium to be played at Lemoore High School.
Add 110 degrees game time temperature and you have a literal barn burner.
And that's what the home crowd experienced in a back-and-forth match up that resulted in a 29-21 double-overtime loss by the Falcons.
"Despite everything we went through this week, I felt like we were as prepared for that game as we could be," said Berna. "Overall, I thought we played very well. It was a very competitive game. A couple plays really made the difference."
The two squads exchanged leads during the opening half. Siskiyous got on the board first, but quarterback Logan Johnson tied up the contest at 7-7 with his 19-yard touchdown run at the 2:23 mark in the first.
Siskiyous went back out in front thanks to a 10-play, 60-yard drive that resulted in a six-yard rushing TD to give the Eagles a 14-7 advantage with 4:10 left in the second quarter.
Johnson and the Falcons answered by going 75 yards over six plays, capped by a 30-yard touchdown reception by Marcos Ruiz just moments before halftime to send the teams tied at 14-14 into the break.
Late in the third quarter, Coalinga appeared to be on its way to a go-ahead touchdown. Johnson broke free for a 36-yard run into the end zone but the play was called back after a controversial illegal block penalty was called. The Falcons fumbled the ball away on the next play and Coalinga was left empty-handed on the possession.
Siskiyous scored a touchdown midway through the fourth quarter to take a 21-14 lead with 8:35 left in regulation.
But the resilient Falcons put together a final drive to once again even up the score. Demarion Wright busted into the end zone for a touchdown with just 37 seconds left to send the game into overtime.
Neither team was able to score on their first possession of OT, but the Eagles came through in the second overtime for a touchdown and two-point conversion for the win.
Johnson had a huge break out game for the Falcons. He completed 24 of 42 passes for 231 yards and touchdown. He also led Coalinga on the ground with 12 rushes for 86 yards and a TD.
Semaj Wickem had 8 catches for 66 yards to lead the Falcon receivers.
On defense, Mario Delgado had a team-high 11 tackles while Jackson Kissee and Nathaniel Stroud both had 10 tackles each. Zach Prince added 4 tackles and the Falcons' lone sack of the day.
Coalinga, now 0-1 overall, hits the road for next Saturday's (Sep. 14) non-conference game at Yuba College.