In what was expected to be a close Sierra Valley Conference opener at Lancers Stadium turned out to be a blowout.

From kickoff until the final seconds ticked off the clock on the north end of the field, the Cordova High School football team dominated Galt that led to a 46-0 win on Oct. 7th. The game was also the Lancers’ homecoming game.

On offense, Cordova (1-0 in the SVC, 4-2 overall) racked up a combined 402 yards; 224 on the ground and 178 in the air. Leading the Lancers’ ground attack was running back Deante McCullough, who had nine carries for 109 yards.

“We thought that their defense matched up really favorable to our game plan,” said Cordova head coach Darrin Nill of the Warriors’ defense. “We ran the ball, we passed the ball. We were able to do pretty much whatever we wanted to do.”

The majority of the Lancers’ offensive attack took place in the first half in front of large homecoming crowd. Cordova led 39-0 at halftime.

Cordova quarterback Xavier Johnson completed 13-of-23 passes for 178 yards and four touchdowns. Two of those scores went into the hands of wide receiver Alvin Banks, who finished the game with four receptions for 54 yards.

The Lancers’ defense held Galt running back Zach Orman, who needed only 118 yards to become the school’s new all-time rushing leader. Cordova held him to only eight carries for 23 yards. He currently sits at 4,152 in his three-year varsity career. The current record is 4,247 yards.

“He’s a really good runner,” said Nill of Orman. “We focused a lot of attention on him. We had two weeks to prepare for him (Cordova had the bye two weeks ago before the start of conference play). Our defense knew where (Orman) was at all times.”

Cordova held Galt to a combined 50 yards; 29 on the ground and 21 in the air. The defense accounted toward one of the touchdowns. Lancer defensive back Tyreke Tate had two interceptions, including one that turned out to be an 82-yard return for one of the Lancers’ scores in the second quarter. His second pick was in the third quarter.

Another Cordova defensive back in Raymond Flite also had an interception in the game. The Lancers’ defense picked off the Warriors three times in the game.

Lancer defensive back Terrill Johnson led in tackles at nine. Cordova defensive end Clifford Bright had three tackles, and had what Nill called a “break out” game in creating havoc on an opponent’s offense.

“I thought he played an outstanding game,” said Nill of Bright. “The entire front seven really played good gap defense.”

Cordova defensive linemen Zariahn Zimmer and Joseph Salcedo had five quarterback sacks each, another plus in keeping the Warriors’ offense from gaining yards. Registering six tackles each for Cordova were linebacker Yusef Pugh, defensive end Kelechi Njoku and Tate. Lancer middle linebacker Kenny Haney had four tackles.

Tonight, Cordova continues SVC action but on the road. The Lancers travel into El Dorado County to play at Union Mine (0-1 in the SVC, 1-5), which lost to defending SVC champion Liberty Ranch, 56-14, in their conference opener in Galt last Friday.