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Saturday mornings online at redbluffdailynews.com • reprinted in Monday's print edition D NEWSAILY RED BLUFF TEHAMACOUNTY T H E V O I C E O F T E H A M A C O U N T Y S I N C E 1 8 8 5 Double Coverage PV holds off Spartans Pleasant Valley 17 Red Bluf 13f By RICHGREENE DN Sports Editor While the end result turned out to be the same, the Spartans showed they have a whole new look for 2011. For the first time in years the Spartans played the role of aggres- sors, Friday night, despite losing 17- 13 to the visiting Pleasant Valley Vikings. Red Bluff's rushing game attacked the Vikings from every angle, the Spartans' defense applied constant pressure on the young Pleasant Valley line and the coach- ing staff dialed up a fake extra point conversion and an onside kick. The aggressive nature tilted most of the game in the Spartans' favor, but it did bite them at the end of the first half when with just 7 seconds left and the score tied 7-7, Red Bluff dialed up a bubble screen for one last effort to the end zone. Taylor Figgs' pass would be deflected and fell into the arms of Vikings' linebacker Zeke Colby who rumbled it back 45-yards for a touchdown. The score gave Pleasant Valley a 14-7 halftime lead, but it didn't get the Spartans down. They opened the third quarter with a 71-yard drive down to the Pleasant Valley 1-inch line high- lighted by a 20-yard scamper from Figgs. Facing fourth-and-goal from 1- inch out, Figgs snuck in for an apparent score, but for the third time in the game a Spartans' touchdown was called back for a penalty. Red Bluff failed to convert on their next attempt and the Vikings took over. The Spartans defense responded with strong plays from Andrew Reedy and Gage Grabfelder to force a Vikings punt. Red Bluff once again took to the ground and this time drove 83 yards, finally finding the end zone when Tyler Reed took the ball in from 18- yards out. On the extra point attempt, Red Week 1 Scoreboard Thursday's 8-man result Champion Christian 53, Mercy 14 Friday's results Corning 52, Las Plumas 0 Pleasant Valley 17, Red Bluff 13 Central Valley 49, Trinity 24 Chester 19, Quincy 0 Chico 35, Lassen 34 Enterprise 47, Anderson 21 Hoopa Valley 62, Etna 0 Live Oak 56, Colusa 22 Maxwell 45, Williams 0 Orland 35, Lindhurst 14 Pierce 21, Hamilton 3 Rio Vista 44, East Nicholas 6 Sutter 42, River Valley 21 University Prep 72, Weed 22 West Valley 34, Shasta 27 Willows 19, Gridley 14 Wheatland 39, Oroville 9 Winters 49, Esparto 14 Yreka 49, Mt. Shasta 14 Friday's 8-man results Hayfork 34, Greenville 16 Dunsmuir 47, Princeton 14 Westwood 64, Redding Christian 8 Saturday's games Foothill 30, Deer Valley 19 Paradise 35, Edison 13 Daily News photos by Rich Greene (Top) Mitch Fox is tackled after making a short reception. (Below) Ty Smith carries the ball toward the sideline during Red Bluff's 17-13 loss to Pleasant Valley in their season opener. Bluff went for some trickery as Figgs tried a jump pass that was deflected in the end zone and Pleas- ant Valley still led 14-13. The Vikings responded with their best drive since the first quarter and marched down to the Spartans' 5-yard-line before settling for a Brody Hill field goal to push their lead to 17-13. Red Bluff took over with under 7 minutes on the clock and once again started working their ground game behind the strong line play of Ryan Hassel, Jeff Skaggs and Dereak Webster. The Spartans drove down to the Pleasant Valley 36-yard line before they faced a fourth-and-7. Red Bluff turned back to the pass, but Figgs' attempt went incomplete and the Vikings took over with 1:23 left. However, the Spartans would get another shot. Pleasant Valley's running back fumbled on their first play and Grabfelder recovered for Red Bluff. It turned out to be a moot point as the Spartans threw four incomplete passes, before the Vikings regained possession and kneeled on the ball. For a Red Bluff program that had lost their past two games against Pleasant Valley by a combined score of 90-11, Friday's game was a mixed bag of emotion. There were strong signs of improvement, but it was a game Red Bluff could have won. "Our kids have made a tremen- dous leap," Spartans coach John Miller said. "They understand our system. They obviously played very well together tonight, but we've got to overcome those little things and get the 'W.' That's untimely what people look for." Pleasant Valley was without their starting running back Jordan Roach, who was ill and the Spartans' defense had a strong game against the Vikings' line. Pleasant Valley was limited to just 78 rushing yards. The Vikings had another 111 yards through the air. Braeden Fales had a fumble recovery for the Spartans. Red Bluff's new look spread offense worked well with their play- ers' athleticism. Primarily using the look to run from, Grabfelder gained 84 yards on 12 carries out the back- field and Reed netted 45 yards on nine carries. Figgs carried 17 times for 106 yards and a second quarter touch- down. Figgs completed 5-of-17 passes for 48 yards. Garrett Spangler had a 23-yard reception, Mitch Fox caught two balls for nine yards and Ty Smith had a 4-yard reception. "That's why we went to this sys- tem. As you saw tonight everyone of those kids fit into this system," Miller said. The Spartans also used the speed of Smith (four carries for 29 yards), Wyatt Houghtby (2 carries for 11 yards) and Tucker Gulliford (three carries for 11 yards) on end-arounds to get their receivers extra touches. No play in the game better showed off Smith's athleticism than an amazing punt return in the sec- ond quarter that turned out to be a bit too amazing. The Spartans were flagged on the play for an illegal block after Smith broke free from a mob, cut back across from field and flew by the remaining Vikings' defense and into the end zone as he looked back and pointed at what he had done. It would have given Red Bluff the lead in a game where there seemed to be just one too many would haves for the Spartans. Saturday's 8-man result Butte Valley 36, Loyalton 18 Standings EAL — South Las Plumas Oroville Lassen Paradise 0 - 0 2- 0 0 - 0 0- 1 0 - 0 League Red Bluff 0 - 0 0- 1 0 - 0 0- 2 Northern Athletic League Overall 0- 1 Overall C. Valley 0 - 0 1- 0 Corning Yreka Anderson West Valley 0 - 0 1- 1 0 - 0 1- 0 0 - 0 1- 1 0 - 0 0- 1 8-Man North League H Hayfork Overall Happy Camp 0 - 0 0- 0 Dunsmuir 0 - 0 1- 0 0 - 0 1- 0 Butte Valley 0 - 0 1- 0 Big Valley Redding C. 0 - 0 0- 1 0 - 0 0- 1 Liberty C. Mercy Week 2 Schedule All games 7:30 p.m. except where noted Thursday's 8-man game Redding C. at Champion C., 7 p.m. Friday's games Corning 52 Las Plumas 0 DN STAFFREPORT The Corning Cardinals breezed past Las Plumas 52-0, Friday night, in the season opener for both teams. John Lowe carried the ball 14 times for 141 yards and two touchdowns. J.D. Whited put up similar numbers with 13 touches for 137 yards and a pair of touchdowns as well. Corning only threw the ball one time, as Ryan Holland had six carries for 79 yards. 14 Champion 53Christian Mercy Matt Misener scored two touchdowns, but Mercy was dominated by Champion Christian 53-14, Thursday. Juan Rosales had a strong John Lowe J.D. Whited defensive game for Mercy and Brenten James and quarterback Harlow Johnson discovered some chemistry. "We just didn't put it all together yet," coach Paul Vietti said. Corning at Orland Shasta at Red Bluff Anderson at Oroville Arcata at Trinity Biggs at Williams Colusa at Maxwell Durham at Clear Lake Esparto at Rio Vista Eureka at Sutter Fall River at Chester Foothill at River Valley Hamilton at Kelseyville Henley at Central Valley Las Plumas at Chico Live Oak at Lindhurst Mazama at Yreka, 7 p.m. Modoc at Lakeview-Paisley, 7 p.m. Mt. Shasta at Hidden Valley Pleasant Valley at Gridley University Prep at Burney West Campus at Quincy West Valley at Enterprise Wheatland at Marysville Willows at Winters Friday's 8-man games Big Valley at Elk Creek, 6 p.m. Greenville at Dunsmuir, 7 p.m. Princeton at Hayfork, 7 p.m. Westwood vs Happy Camp at Dunsmuir, 5 p.m. Saturday's games Portola at Upper Lake, 2 p.m. Redwood at Paradise, 7 p.m. Saturday's 8-man game Loyalton at Liberty Christian 0 - 0 0- 0 0 - 0 0- 0