Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/749253
ByChipThompson editor@redbluffdailynews.com @editorchip on Twitter REDDING TheRedBluffSpartans and Corning Cardinals are due to open the playoffs Thursday night, withgamesbeingbumpedupaday due to Friday being Veterans Day. No active Red Bluff Spartans player has played a post season game before, but that's going to change Thursday night when the Spartans visit the Shasta Wolves in the opening round. The last playoff appearance for the Spartans came in 2012, when they were the No. 6 seed and lost in the opening round to the No. 3 Foothill Cougars. While again a No. 6 seed, the Spartans have a shot against the No. 3 Wolves. When the teams faced off Sept. 2, the Spartans led the game in the third quarter be- fore eventually falling 59-30. The Spartans, 3-7 overall and 3-3 in league play, have gelled as the season progressed, taking a one point loss to the Northern League leading Lassen Grizzlies week 5 in Susanville and beat- ing the Yreka Miners 36-14 week 6. After a big loss to No. 4 seed West Valley week 7, the Spartans lost late by just three points to the No. 3 seed Corning Cardinals and then rallied for big wins over Cen- tral Valley (43-12) and Anderson (31-10) to close out the season. The Wolves, after beating the Spartans in week 2, suffered three straight losses before alternating winsandlossestofinishtheseason 5-5 overall and 3-2 in league play. On paper the teams stack up nicely with each other. Each av- eraged 29 points a game and Red Bluff gave up 34 compared to Shasta at 32. The Spartans have a more po- tent passing attack, with quar- terback Marshal Brose racking up 1,503 passing yards, while the Wolves have more than twice as many rushing yards as the Spar- tans at 3,145 compared to 1,469. The key for the Spartans will be stopping Shasta's three lead- ing ball carriers — Kyale Muckel (843), Vincent Smith (835) and Seth Park (759). The winner of Thursday's game will advance to face the No. 2 seed Pleasant Valley Vikings Friday, Nov. 18 in Chico. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday at Shasta High School, 2500 Eureka Way in Redding. The No. 4 Foothill Cougars will host the No. 5 Enterprise Hornets at 7 p.m. Thursday in Palo Cedro. The winner will face the top- seeded Paradise Bobcats Nov. 18. Cardinalsvs.Anderson CORNING The No. 3 seed Corning Cardinals will host the No. 6 seed Anderson Cubs Thursday night. Coach John Studer said his goal for the year was to advance fur- ther in the post season, which would mean a better regular sea- son and a high seeding. He got that from his team, which fin- ished in second place in the Northern League at 8-2 overall and 5-1 in league play. The Cardinals' only league loss came against the league leading Lassen Grizzlies, 14-7, on Oct. 28. The game was played under mis- erable field conditions that favored Lassen's size over Corning's agility. Anderson (5-5 overall, 2-4 league) is coming off a big loss to Red Bluff, 31-10, to close out the regular season. That loss fol- lowed losing efforts against Las- sen, 42-13, and West Valley, 30-0, in weeks 8 and 9. Corning has a substantial ad- vantage in scoring, averaging 34 points a game while giving up 21 compared to the Cubs, who have averaged 20 points per game while giving up 22. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Corning High School, 643 Blackburn Ave. After the loss to the Grizzlies Studer said he hoped his team would have the opportunity to face Lassen again on a dry field. If the Cardinals can get a win Thursday, there's a strong possi- bility that would happen Nov. 18 in Susanville. Thursday's winner will face the winner of another Thurs- day game between No. 2 Lassen and the No. 7 Wheatland Pirates. HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL Spartans,Cardinalssetforplayoffs By Chip Thompson editor@redbluffdailynews.com @editorchip on Twitter LOS MOLINOS The Los Moli- nos Bulldogs took a hard-fought win Tuesday night over the Mt. Shasta Bears in three sets, 25-14, 25-19, 25-15. The Bulldogs held a comfort- able lead through the first set after going up 14-12, thanks to a stretch of serves from Henna Acevedo to put the Bulldogs up 19-12. After the Bears scored a couple of times, Kendall Wil- liams went on her own service run including a pair of aces and the Bulldogs pulled away with the 25-14 win. The match tightened up in the second and third sets, with the Bears leading much of each. The Bears jumped ahead in the second set and led until a block from Rachel Rogers and Acevedo and a kill from Rogers chipped away at the deficit and the Bulldogs tied it up at 13. The teams would trade points until another service run from Wil- liams gave the Bulldogs their first lead of the night and took them to a 19-16 advantage. A pair of kills and serves from Li- set Castillo closed out the set for the 25-19 win. The third set was incredi- bly even with both teams keep- ing the game within 2 points up through a 16-15 Los Molinos lead. Castillo and Rogers each had a pair of kills and when Rogers took over the serve the Bulldogs went on a 9-point run for the 25-15 win that included a pair of aces and a pair of Cas- tillo taps the went over blockers and straight to the floor. With the win the Bulldogs are guaranteed a spot in Tuesday's state tournament to be played at Red Bluff High School, as the top four teams advance. The Bulldogs will face the winner of Tuesday's match be- tween No. 7 Modoc and No. 2 Quincy at 7 p.m. Thursday. At No. 3 the Bulldogs will either host Modoc are travel to Quincy. The Division 5 championship game is scheduled for 5 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 12 on the court of the higher seeded team. Castillo had 20 kills on the night, Rogers had 12 and Ace- vedo had 4. Heather Rodriguez had 16 as- sists and Williams had 13. Wil- liams led the team with 4 aces. Spartans 0, Shasta 3 REDDING The Red Bluff Spar- tans fell in straight sets Tuesday night on the road against the Shasta Wolves, 25-12, 25-16, 25-7. HIGH SCHOOL VOLLEYBALL LADY BULLDOGS OPEN PLAYOFFS WITH WIN CHIPTHOMPSON-DAILYNEWS Los Molinos' Rachel Rogers hits a shot over the Mt. Shasta defenders on Tuesday night. SHARKS3,CAPITALS0 Up Next: Sharks at Florida When: Thursday, 4:30p.m. TV/Radio: CSN-CA/1460AM, 101.1FM THESCORE By Curtis Pashelka Bay Area News Group WASHINGTON, D.C. The Sharks on Tuesday returned to the fun- damentals of what made them the best road team in the NHL last season. The Sharks got timely even- strength goals from Marc-Ed- ouard Vlasic and Brent Burns in the second period and a stellar performance from goalie Martin Jones in a 3-0 win over the Wash- ington Capitals that snapped a three-game losing streak. Jones made 24 saves, including 10 in the third period, for his first shutout of the season and his sec- ond straight at Verizon Center af- ter he also shut out the Capitals last October, making 31 saves. "A good road win. A real com- mitment to defend by every- body," Sharks coach Pete DeBoer said."Great goaltending when we needed it and some timely goals. That's our formula and we haven't had it for the last few games and it's nice to get it back." Joe Thornton added an empty net goal with 1:32 left in the third period, as the Sharks began their six-game road trip on a positive note after they allowed 11 goals the last three games, including five against the Pittsburgh Pen- guins on Saturday. "We weren't happy with the spot we put ourselves in with the last couple of games," Sharks de- fenseman Paul Martin said. "We wanted to come out and set the tone early, and the first period was a good period for us. We were up in the forecheck, taking care of pucks. "Thatwasagoodeffortfromev- eryone tonight to get the points." The Sharks had a 28-10-3 re- cord away from home last sea- son, with Jones collecting 22 of those wins. He staved off a handful of surges by the Capi- tals, including ones at the be- ginning of the second and third periods. He also made a com- bined five saves on three Capi- tals power plays. The Sharks now have a 3-4 away record going into Thurs- day's game against the Florida Panthers. "We defended really well and we didn't give up a lot of looks in the middle of the ice, which was huge for us," Jones said. "That was a good bounce back game for us. We just have to continue in that direction." NHL Jones shines in net for Sharks Games move to Thursday due to Veterans Day holiday He makes 24 saves for his first shutout of season as San Jose blanks Capitals They notch 3-set win over Mt. Shasta; Spartans lose on road to Shasta SPORTS » redbluffdailynews.com Wednesday, November 9, 2016 MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS B1