By Ernie Gonzalez (@superego1012)
Saturday night will mark the final time San Jose State cornerback Andre Chachere will line up against his hometown Fresno State Bulldogs for homecoming.
It will be the ninth time since 1997 that the Spartans will play the Bulldogs for the big game.
The senior and Fresno native grew up minutes away from Bulldog stadium, but says he’s glad to be a Spartan.
“Growing up I lived right down the street from there, I can hear the games from my house,” Chachere said. “Getting to play against them, especially for a homecoming game, it’s awesome.”
The two squads might be rivals, but to number 21, off the field, they are anything but.
“I talk to a couple of them every day just talking trash, but once we get on the field, we kind of step away from that and it’s just competing,” Chachere said.
One of those guys is Keesean Johnson, Fresno State’s best receiver. Chachere has lined up against Johnson the previous two seasons, limiting him to just one reception in last year’s matchup, but for 53 yards. In 2015, Johnson caught seven passes for 90 yards and a touchdown on Chachere.
In two career games against his hometown rival, Chachere has seven tackles (two for loss), five pass breakups, a sack, but has yet to record an interception.
Hungry for that interception against the Bulldogs, Chachere says if it happens, it will be in front of most of his family.
“For this game, I got a lot of them coming,” Chachere said. “So there’s going to be a lot of Chachere’s up there, hopefully not in red, but in blue,” he said jokingly pointing to the CEFCU seats.
