Saintil’s three TDs lifts No. 22 Shasta College to 44-19 win over Los Medanos

By T.J. Holmes of the Redding Record Searchlight

For the Knights' offense to catch up with their elite defense, they had to find a deep threat with game-changing abilities.

Enter receiver Eric Saintil.

Saintil caught three touchdowns passes and had well over 100 yards receiving to lead Shasta College's football team to a 44-19 road victory over Los Medanos on Saturday in Pittsburg.

The Knights benefited from Saintil's clutch play in last week's win over Merced with him scoring the go-ahead score in the fourth quarter. He elevated the offense once again, hauling in touchdowns of 52, 50 and 19 yards from quarterbacks Tim Naylor and Ryan Pollard, who found the 6-foot-2, 185-pound freshman out of Homestead, Florida, on vertical routes.

Shasta just might have found the explosive play-maker its been missing.

"He's continuing to give us big plays," Shasta College coach Craig Thomson said. "We were able to hook up with him on deep passes and that's something we've been lacking. It can open up a lot of stuff on offense and that allows us to get in rhythm."

The timing couldn't have been better as No. 22 Shasta dismantled Los Medanos in a meeting of the top two teams in the NorCal American Division Regional Poll. The Knights should hold their No. 1 spot with the victory, using another big second half to pull away.

Shasta's 24-10 lead at the break was built on Justin Hellyer's short touchdown run, Mario Mezier's interception return for a score and Saintil's long pitch and catch from Naylor. But the Knights surrendered two scores — a field goal and a touchdown — within the first two minutes of the third quarter to find themselves in a one-score ball game.

The Knights responded by calling on No. 83. Pollard heaved a long pass over the middle to Saintil on Shasta's next play from scrimmage for a 50-yard score. The two connected on the next drive for 19 yards as Saintil carried a defender to the goal line for a 38-19 lead. Pollard finished off the scoring before the end of the third period with a quarterback sneak from 1-yard out.

It was the second straight week the Knights used a second-half turnaround to remain unbeaten.

"All that hard work in the spring and summer through fall camp is paying off for these type of situations," Thompson said. "We've been here; we can do this and fight through it. We've been getting stronger as the game progresses."

The Knights' defense wasn't as stingy as it has been, but stiffened up near the goal line. It came away with a two red zone stops late in the game and still finished with five takeaways — all interceptions. Carl Anderson had two and Mezier, Dion Page and Kiante Bell each picked off a Mustang pass.

Shasta takes a break from Pac 7 play by hosting winless Feather River College, a National Division opponent, Saturday at 5 p.m. for its Hall of Fame and homecoming game.

Full stats were not available by press time.

Connect with T.J. Holmes on Twitter @tjholmes_RS.