Garner guides Eagles to first win of season



Toby Garner rushes upfield for the Pleasanton Eagles in their 24-6 win over Corpus Christi King on Friday, Sept. 25. J GARCIA | PLEASANTON EXPRESS

A big night by Toby Garner helped power the Pleasanton Eagles to their first win of the season on Homecoming against Corpus Christi King.

Garner made quite an impact for the team, scoring all three of the Eagles’ touchdowns on 16 carries for 138 yards.

“It feels great,” Garner said. “Everyone came out and played their heart out.”

Friday’s win snapped an eight-game losing streak that dated back to 2019. It was the product of four weeks of hard work to start the season after practices were halted for 12 days during fall camp.

“When you practice hard, and you practice good, good things happen to you on Friday nights,” Head Coach Stephen Liska said. “And the 24-6 win over the Mustangs showed exactly what good practices can get you.”

Garner had his first touchdown in the second quarter on a 10-yard run to put up the first points on the board, along with an extra point by Jose Angel Perez with 11:53 left. Then, almost three minutes later, at 9:22 left, Garner plunged in from a yard out to extend Pleasanton’s lead to 14-0 at halftime.

The Eagles kept up the hard work after halftime, with Garner running six yards up the middle for another touchdown and pushing the lead to 24-0 with 2:20 left in the third quarter. That followed a 33-yard field goal by Perez.

“On the sidelines, everybody was fired up and excited [at] the end of the game,” Liska said. “And that’s what it needs, we gotta have everybody play.”

The Mustangs finally scored a touchdown in the fourth quarter with a 42-yard run.

Pleasanton picked up the win despite King out-gaining the Eagles 265-226 in total yards. But the Eagles forced five turnovers, helping them seal the win.

Sophomore QB Sean Ramos was 10-of-27 passing for 108 yards Friday night. Diego Luna had three receptions for 53 yards, as well.

Pleasanton (1-4) will play Kingsville King in Kingsville next Friday, Oct. 2, before the Eagles’ district opening against Boerne.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *