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ByJoshDubow TheAssociatedPress ALAMEDA When general manager Reggie McKenzie set out in the offseason to re- build the Oakland Raiders, he wanted to put together a team that could push around oppo- nents in the trenches and run the ball consistently. That was the same message Tony Sparano delivered when he took over as interim coach four games into the season. Yet the Raiders start the sec- ond half of the season on pace to run the ball fewer times than any team in more than 80 years and for fewer yards than any team in nearly 70 years. Along with searching for their first win of the season, the Raiders (0-8) also are try- ing to re-establish their iden- tity. Oakland is last in the NFL in rushing with 65.5 yards per game, the fewest for any team since the 1946 Detroit Lions averaged 42.5 yards. The Raid- ers have only run the ball 18.9 times per game, the fewest on records that go back to 1932. "I'm just not used to that, the number of attempts be- ing what they are right now," Sparano said. "We put our- selves there. You're down on the road, in that kind of sit- uation, and we put ourselves in that position a little bit on several occasions. Normally, I'm more used to being in the 30 range, somewhere around there, and I think that pro- duces better numbers." Right now the numbers are poor. The Raiders have topped 100 yards rushing just twice all season, gaining 101 in a blow- out loss to Houston in Week 2 helped by a 41-yard keeper by quarterback Derek Carr and 114 against San Diego in the first game under Sparano. But the running game has reverted the past three weeks with the team averaging 56.3 yards per game and 2.9 yards per carry in losses to Arizona, Cleveland and Seattle. Sparano said the lack of op- portunities has hurt the pro- duction. He said the team had 17 run plays in the game plan against Seattle but only ran the ball 16 times as the offensive line was beat repeatedly at the point of attack. The Raiders had hoped for stronger run blocking after adding big guards in rookie Gabe Jackson and free agent Austin Howard but that hasn't materialized yet. "We just have to figure it out," Howard said. "We have the guys up front to run the ball. We have the coaches to put us in the places to have success in the run game. We just have to go out on the field and do it. It's on us as players to go out and get it done." Despite the lack of pro- duction on the ground, the Raiders have stuck with Dar- ren McFadden and Maurice Jones-Drew as their primary ball carriers. McFadden has 358 yards and is averaging 3.7 yards per carry while Jones- Drew has been held to 54 yards on 26 carries as he has been slowed by a hand injury. Latavius Murray has carried the ball just four times all sea- son and fullback Marcel Reece also has only four runs. Reece has had good success the few times he has played tailback, rushing for 123 yards last year against the Jets and averaging 114 yards from scrimmage in four starts in 2012. "That's something that you could see happen because he's a big back who carries the ball a little differently than the other runners that we have," Sparano said. "In his opportu- nity last year that's something he did a good job of. We're just trying to get to a point where we can get enough carries to go around period here. Bring- ing one more guy into the mix at this point while it may be great and might be a spark is a thought." NFL Raiders'offensestill groundedthisyear Hopes of pushing opponents around not working as Oakland ranks last in rushing ELAINETHOMPSON—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS Oakland Raiders quarterback Derek Carr (right) hands off to running back Darren McFadden (20) in the first half Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks in Seattle. Staff Reports PALOCEDRO Los Molinos won on the road at Redding Chris- tian on Tuesday 26-24, 25-23, 25-16. Hannah Rogers recorded 18 kills and nine digs Rachel Rogers had eight kills. Gilsa Casteelon had seven kills and eight digs. Vanesa Cota served up four aces and 29 assists. Los Molinos (19-10-3, 4-3) concludes the regular sea- son tonight with Senior Night against Chester. MERCY 3, MAXWELL 0 Mercy beat visiting Maxwell 25-8, 25- 11, 25-10 Tuesday. Nine different Lady War- riors had at least one kill, led by Marissa Starman with nine. Starman also recorded 12 digs and five blocks. Tasha Pimentel had five aces and Madeline Flynn had three. Pimentel had 20 assists. Mercy (22-12, 4-3) concludes its season with Senior Night tonight against Liberty Chris- tian. CORNING3,CENTRALVALLEY0 The Lady Cardinals won their first Northern Athletic League match of the season Tuesday 25-16, 25-20, 25-21 at Central Valley. "It felt really good to get our first win in a tough NAL," coach Mike Albee said. Kaylee Shoemaker led Corn- ing with seven kills, 14 digs and three aces. "We passed really good, which set up our hitting, block and serving," Albee said. "We stayed relaxed and played our game of aggressive volleyball." Maddy Caputo had nine digs. Brenna Johnson had nine assists and Emerie Eller had eight. ENTERPRISE 3, RED BLUFF 1 The Lady Spartans hung tough on Senior Night, but En- terprise walked away Tuesday with a 26-24, 22-25, 25-21, 25- 19 win. "I am crazy proud of these players, especially the seniors being honored tonight," coach Josh Frantz said. "They abso- lutely played their guts out, and I could not ask for any more effort from them than what I got. They should leave the gym tonight with their heads held high. What a fan- tastic group of players." Red Bluff's senior class is Sosie O'Sullivan, Tessa Jones, Bailey Frantz, Hailey Reine- man, Alek Funk and Kelsey Cantrell. Frantz had seven kills to lead Red Bluff. Regan Barrow had five aces. Jones had four aces. Katie Gallagher had 16 as- sists and 16 digs. The Lady Spartans (7-19, 1-10) end their season tonight in Paradise. PREP VOLLEYBALL Los Molinos, Mercy both earn sweeps Lady Spartans give gutty Senior Night performance but fall to Enterprise in 4 sets Nearly everyone agrees that texting and driving is danger- ous. In an AT&T-sponsored survey of frequent drivers who text daily, 98percent said they were aware of the dangers of texting behind the wheel. TECHNOLOGY Survey:Peopletextand drive knowing dangers FULLSTORYONPAGEB4 In the last night of regular season volleyball Corning hosts Anderson, Los Molinos hosts Chester and Mercy hosts Liberty Christian. Red Bluff is on the road at Para- dise to finish the season. VOLLEYBALL Northern Section regular season ends Red Bluff is at the Eastern Athletic-Sacramento River League championships in Chico today. Corning is at the Northern Athletic League championships in Anderson. CROSS COUNTRY League championships scheduled today Pope Francis on Wednesday denounced the hardships Catholics can face when seeking marriage annulments, revealing he once fired an official who tried to charge thousands of dollars for one. HARDSHIPS Pope mulls removing charges for annulments FULL STORY ON PAGE B6 Well, we made it. It's Week 10. It's the end of what turned out to be a long, tough road for one of our teams. For another the real road will begin after a lengthy road trip and for a third it's now-or-never time. That sounds dramatic, let's start there. 8-MAN PLAYOFFS — 1ST ROUND: NORTH NO. 3 HAYFORK (8-2) AT SOUTH NO. 2 MERCY (5-5),1P.M. SATURDAY Just like they use fewer players, the 8-man foot- ball teams also use less of the season. That's right, 8-man football is jump- ing right into their playoff this week. Mercy gets to host a home playoff game, that by all records appears to be their first this century. The game will be a rematch from early in the season when Hayfork came to Red Bluff and outlasted Mercy 42- 26. Hayfork's hurry-up offense and con- ditioning were too much for the under- manned Warriors. Late in the game some Warriors were seen throwing up on the sideline and Al House missed the fourth quarter. The 42 points Hayfork scored were the team's fewest in a win this season. The game had been just 14-8 at half- time. Mercy should be better conditioned this time around and House has turned into a beast for the Warriors. Last week he scored six touchdowns. Hayfork will be well-rested, the Tim- berjacks won by forfeit last week, so they haven't played a game since Oct. 24. The Timberjacks are led by juniors Brandon Klopfer (27 touchdowns) and Joe Nagle (21 TDs). CORNING (6-3, 3-1) AT YREKA (5-4, 1-3), 7:30 P.M. FRIDAY Corning coach John Studer told his boys after last week's win that his favorite part about long road trips is getting off the bus, show- ing the other team you're not tired and getting a win. Of course he said it with a lot more "football" language, I'll leave that to your imagination. A win gives Corning a share of the Northern Athletic League title, barring West Valley being upset by Anderson. A win also forces the Northern Sec- tion to make a difficult decision at Sat- urday's playoff seeding meeting. Corning will likely be ahead of Or- land in playoff points for the fourth spot, but Orland won the head-to-head meeting with the Cardinals earlier this year. The playoff committee will have to decide who gets to be the fourth seed and likely host the other team in the first round. Chance Nelson needs 69 rushing yards to reach the 1,000-yard plateau. Don't think this one's going to be a walkover. Yreka played Lassen and An- derson tough. They'll also be playing to stay in the No. 7 seed. Dropping to No. 8 means a first-round game against Sutter. RED BLUFF (2-7, 1-4) AT PLEASANT VAL- LEY (7-2, 3-2) The Spartans come into their final game of the season losers of four straight. Unfortunately, Pleasant Valley still has a lot to play for when it comes to seeding in Division II, so resting play- ers isn't going to be an option. The Vikings have boasted one of the Northern Section's best defenses this season. On the flip side they haven't put up a ton of points and this type of defensive game could suit Red Bluff a bit better than the highflying offenses the Spar- tans haven't been able to stop in re- cent weeks. The Vikings have scored 21 or fewer points six times this season. Red Bluff has reached double digits just three times. It's the Spartans second time play- ing at Pleasant Valley, having lost 61-7 to Chico there earlier this season. Contact Rich Greene at rgreene@red- bluffdailynews.com or @richgreene- news on Twitter. WEEK 10 PREVIEWS Mercyhosts Hayfork in playoff game on Saturday Rich Greene SPORTS » redbluffdailynews.com Thursday, November 6, 2014 MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS B1