CBJC football season kicks off Saturday
The Columbia Basin JC football team opens the season Saturday at Lampson Stadium against the Tacoma Knights. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m.
This is the third year the Gladiators have put together a team of students from Columbia Basin College, though it has no affiliation with the school other than requiring that players are taking at least five credits at CBC.
CBJC plays in the Northwest Junior College Football League, a fairly fluid organization that this year will have five teams: the Gladiators, the Everett JC Red Raiders, the Kitsap Peninsula JC Warhawks, the South Sound (Lacey) JC Spartans and the Tacoma JC Knights.
Jim Gonzales has been the CBJC head coach since the beginning, and he’s joined on his staff by offensive coordinator Bill Stahl and assistants Denny Payne, Tory Billings, Layton Brown and Paul Dunbar.
Nearly all of the names on the team will be familiar to area football fans, with more than half of the 35 players on the roster coming from Kennewick and most of the rest from the surrounding area.
Among the notable names are TJ Fields and Ivan Diaz from Kennewick High, Dom Davis from Kamiakin, Matt Mason from Kiona-Benton and Heath Lawrence from Columbia-Burbank.
The Gladiators’ nine-game schedule includes home dates on this Saturday, Sept. 22, Oct. 20 and Nov. 3. They also will make a trip to take on North Dakota State College of Science in Wahpeton — a mere 1,325 miles away. The game will be played at the Wildcats’ Frank Vertin and Skip Bute Alumni Stadium, named after a generous donor (Vertin) and the school’s first football coach (Bute).
Columbia Basin JC Gladiators schedule
Saturday: vs. Tacoma Knights, Lampson Stadium, 7 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 15, at Kitsap Peninsula Warhawks, Silverdale Stadium, 2 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 22, vs. Everett Red Raiders, Lampson Stadium, 7 p.m.
Sunday, Sept. 30, at South Sound Spartans, South Sound Stadium, 1 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 6, at North Dakota State College of Science, Vertin-Bute Alumni Stadium, 1 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 13, at Tacoma Kngihts, TBA
Saturday, Oct. 20, vs. Kitsap Peninsula Warhawks, Lampson Stadium, 7 p.m.
Sunday, Oct. 28, at Everett Red Raiders, Veterans Memorial Stadium, 5:30 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 3, vs. South Sound Spartans, Lampson Stadium, 7 p.m.
Roster
Danny Engel, TE/DL, Kennewick
Dom Davis, RB/OLB, Kamiakin
Jordan Upton, WR/DB, Southridge
Josh Lopez, WR, Prosser
Cody Clayton, TE/OLB, Eisenhower
Rodney Bryant, QB, Sacramento, Calif.
Ethan Morgan, RB/P, Kamiakin
Sean Phennegan, WR/DB, Southridge
Dale Entel, WR, Clarkston
Dustin Lungay, RB/LB, Honolulu, Hawaii
Heath Lawrence, QB, Columbia-Burbank
Joe Scott, WR/DB, River View
Matt Mason, QB, Kiona-Benton
Patrick Robinson, WR, Richland
Keenan Corrato, RB/DL, Richland
Tyrell McGee, WR, Southridge
Bobby Adams, RB, Hermiston
Eddy Ricks, LB/RB, Kennewick
Brandon Larson, WR/DB, Kamiakin
Anthony Powell, WR/LB, Kennewick
Josh McVickers, LB/WR, Columbia-Burbank
Exstacy Wornell, LB, Kamiakin
Angel Garcia, TE/LB, Columbia-Burbank
Devin Homer, OL/DL, Kennewick
Matt Gibson, OL/DL, Southridge
Marshall Brinson, OL/LB, Kennewick
Zack Koons, LB/OL, Kennewick
TJ Fields, OL/LB, Kennewick
Gerardo Cruz, OL/DL, Pasco
Alan Molina, OL/DL, Prosser
Patrick Lasu, OL/DL, Cairo, Egypt
Ivan Diaz, OL/DL, Kennewick
Tyler Johnson, OL/DL, Kennewick
Jose Rosales, K, Kennewick
Lowen Ewing, TE, Junction City, Alaska
This story was originally published September 3, 2012 at 5:50 PM with the headline "CBJC football season kicks off Saturday."