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ByChipThompson editor@redbluffdailynews.com @editorchip on Twitter COTTONWOOD Coming off their first win of the season, 36-14 over the Yreka Miners on Sept. 30, the Red Bluff Spartans look to build momentum Friday on the road against an up-and-down West Valley Eagles squad. Despite being 1-5 overall, the Spartans are 1-1 in league play and have played well even in los- ing efforts. The Eagles stand at 3-3 over- all but are winless in league play, having lost to the Miners 24-21 on Sept. 23 and the Lassen Grizzlies 21-3 on Sept. 30. The Spartans led late but fell to the Grizzlies the week before, 42-41. Quarterback Marshall Brose continued to play well last week, throwing for four touchdowns, all to Conner McKenzie, who had 194 receiving yards on the night. The bigger story, though, was the Spartans' defense being able to shut down the league's top rusher David Ruiz, who has 766 yards on the season. The Eagles' defense is stingy, allowing a league-best 96 points for the season, but the offense trails the league at just 107 points scored on the season. By contrast, the Spartans' high- octane offense is third in the league at 173 in points scored, be- hindonlyCorningandLassen.The defense has given up 236 points on the season, 82 more than the last- place Central Valley Falcons. The key will be the Spartans' defense keeping the Eagles' mod- est offense in check and Brose, McKenzie and the Spartans' run- ning attack being able to move the ball and get into the end zone. Kickoff is scheduled around 7:30 p.m. Friday at West Valley High School, 3805 Happy Valley Road in Cottonwood. Bulldogsvs.Princeton LOS MOLINOS The Los Molinos Bulldogs (3-2 overall, 2-0 league) will host the Princeton Eagles (4-1 overall, 2-0 league) for homecom- ing Friday in a matchup that will likely decide the winner of the California South 8-Man League. The Bulldogs expect to have starting quarterback Alex Russell back on the field for the game af- ter he was held out of last week's game for disciplinary reasons. Russell is third in the league for passing yards and fourth in rush- ing yards and touchdowns, hav- ing played just four games. Freshman Hunter Landingham stepped up to get the win last week over the Westwood Lum- berjacks 20-0, and this week can return to being the team's No. 2 rusher behind Russell, with 327 yards on the season. The Eagles' main weapon is Manuel Espinosa, who leads the league in rushing yards (1,394), passing yards (515), total points (106) and total touchdowns (14). He's also the league's leading tackler with 63. The Eagles lead the league with 220 points on the season, while giving up just 105. Due to a couple of lopsided losses early to Redding Christian (58-8) and Big Valley (64-0), the Bulldogs have allowed 142 points while scoring 98. The Eagles' sole loss on the year came against Redding Christian in the opener, 32-14. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. FOOTBALL Spartanshopetocarrymomentum No. 1 Bulldogs host No. 2 Princeton for homecoming game Special to the DN RED BLUFF The Red Bluff Spar- tans swim team hosted Foothill and Paradise on Wednesday in a tri-meet and the boys finished second behind Paradise, while beating Foothill; the girls finish- ing second by beating Paradise but losing to Foothill. Six swimmers for Red Bluff won their events. On the boys side, Jaxon Balken won both the 100-yard butterfly (57.93 seconds), the third-fastest time in Red Bluff High School's his- tory, and the 100 breaststroke (1:06.30), which is the sixth- fastest time in Red Bluff High School's history. Holiday Rider earned gold in the 100 backstroke (1:06.05) and placed second in the 200 free- style. Jacob Patterson finished in first place in the 100 freestyle with a time of 58.23. The boys relay team of Rider, Patterson, Nathan Fregoso and Balken won the 200 medley re- lay and placed second in the 200 free relay. For the girls, Jayne Brandt led the way, winning the 200 indi- vidual medley (2:21.89), which was the third-fastest time in Red Bluff High School's history, and also won the breaststroke (1:11.64). Jordan Munoz captured first place in the 100 freestyle (1:05.08) and was fourth in the 50 freestyle. Stevie McKenzie won the 100 butterfly (1:16.70) and finished second in the 100 freestyle. The relay team of Brandt, El- lie Fletcher, Munoz and McKen- zie finished second in the 200 free and 200 medley relays. Other top finishers for the Spartans included Fregoso, who finished second in the 50 freestyle and 100 backstroke. Quinn Rosser was second in the 100 freestyle and third in the 50 free. Fletcher placed second in the 50 freestyle and 100 breast- stroke. Fletcher swam the 10th- fastest time in Red Bluff High School history in the 50 free, go- ing 27.96. Haley Hafey finished fifth in the backstroke. Red Bluff is back in action Wednesday at home against Chico High School at 3:30 p.m. SWIMMING SPARTANS WIND UP 2ND AT HOME MEET Balken wins 100 butterfly, 100 breaststroke with pair of top-6 marks in school history CONTRIBUTED Junior Jordan Munoz swims the 100-yard freestyle Wednesday at a meet against Foothill and Paradise in Red Bluff. By Daniel Brown Bay Area News Group It's autumn again, that time of year when leaves fall but the San Francisco Giants don't. They beat the New York Mets in a wild-card thriller Wednes- day to advance to the next round. Of course they did. The Giants are 35-14 in postseason games under manager Bruce Bo- chy. Now, they head into Game 1 against the Chicago Cubs on Fri- day. They do so looking again as if they have saved a special blend designed specifically for October play — pumpkin spice baseball. It's a zesty brew of un- likely stars, impeccable defense and ornery men with beards. Consider this: Giants catcher Buster Posey is 11-0 in postseason series since his rookie year of 2010. The Chicago Cubs are 3-13 in postseason series since 1909. "I like our chances," left- hander Madison Bumgarner, one of the ornery bearded men, said after polishing off New York with a 3-0 complete game. "I'll go to battle with these guys any day. It gets said a lot, but our team and all our guys, we love each other. … Without that, we don't have the success that we do." The Giants have won the past three even-year World Series — 2010, 2012, 2014 — but not once did they hint at impending dom- inance by, say, finishing with the best record in the league. In- stead, they perform some kind of fall magic, pulling things out of the thin, crisp air. The Giants have won 11 consecutive post- season series, matching the Yan- kees (1998-2001) for the longest such streak in baseball history. Beginning with the 2010 post- season, the Giants are 16-7 at home and 19-7 on the road. They have won 20 of their last 25 post- season games. "That's why it's so fun to play in this organization, because there is nobody out there that is timid," said Conor Gillaspie, who hit the pivotal three-run homer in the ninth inning Wednesday. Still, the parade planners in San Francisco might want to hold off a bit longer. The best- of-five National League Divi- sion Series against the Cubs N.L. DIVISION SERIES Giants, October masters, vs. Cubs, best mark N.L.DIVISIONSERIES Game 1: San Francisco Giants at Chicago Cubs, 6:15p.m. Friday, TV on FS1. TUNEIN CARDINALS 33, 49ERS 21 Up next: San Francisco 49ers at Buffalo Bills, 10a.m. on Sunday, Oct. 16, TV on FOX. THESCORE Special to the DN DURHAM In a league meet, Dur- ham High School hosted Mercy, Las Plumas, Winters and Oroville at the Durham City pool Wednes- day. The Warriors boys took second place and the girls were fourth, for third overall. The Mercy boys team of Spen- cer Flynn, Marcus Kuchle, Alex Stoner and Nicholas Keane was second in the 200-yard medley re- lay and first in the 200 freestyle relay. Kuchle was second in the 100 breaststroke and first in the 50 freestyle; Keane was first in the 100 butterfly and sixth in the 200 freestyle; Flynn was fourth in the 100 freestyle and third in the 100 backstroke; and Stoner was fifth in the 50 freestyle and fifth in the 100 backstroke. Fletcher Bennett and Marely Fuchs had strong swims in the 50 freestyle and in the 100 back- stroke. The Mercy girls team of Lina Gannon, Claire Tobin, Mikaela Weber and Katelyn Tobin was second in the 200 freestyle relay and third in the 200 medley relay. Katelyn Tobin earned a third in the 100 backstroke and We- ber was second in the 100 butter- fly. Claire Tobin earned a second in the 50 freestyle. Gannon im- proved her best time by six sec- onds in the 100 freestyle. Next up for Mercy, a trip to the final regular-season meet in Sut- ter on Wednesday. SWIMMING Mercy takes 3rd overall in Durham By Cam Inman Bay Area News Group SANTA CLARA Three turnovers, shoddy offense and an injury-de- pleted defense assured the San Francisco 49ers of their fourth straight defeat, a 33-21 loss Thurs- day night against the Arizona Cardinals. Not long after Levi's Stadium's half-filled crowd chanted for Co- lin Kaepernick to come off the bench, the 49ers (1-4) instead stuck with Blaine Gabbert, and although he engineered an en- suing touchdown drive, his first pass of the fourth quarter got in- tercepted to thwart their come- back attempt. Gabbert got sacked a season- high seven times, the last for a safety with 1:17 remaining. He NFL 49ers lose 4th straight, to Cardinals FOOTBALL PAGE 2 GIANTS PAGE 2 49ERS PAGE 2 SPORTS » redbluffdailynews.com Friday, October 7, 2016 MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS B1