Cody Gardner (32) eludes a host of Elk Grove tacklers in Nevada Union's 33-0 win over the Herd Thursday night.
Nov. 6, 2009
Miners blank Thundering Herd, 33-0
Nevada Union's Miners moved one game closer to perfection Thursday night by traveling to Elk Grove and fashioning a 33-0 rout of the Thundering Herd.
The win cinched at least a share of the Delta Valley Conference title for the Miners and moved the team's season record to 9-0. NU will seek a second straight unbeaten campaign and an outright championship Thursday when the Miners host Davis at Hooper Stadium starting at 6 p.m.
In Thursday's game, the Miners were without leading rusher Hank Humphers but several different players stepped up to pick up the slack.
Tanner Vallejo proved to be a mainstay for the winners as he carried the ball 17 times for 181 yards and scored three touchdowns, two via runs and another on a pass from Kyle Cota who was 6 of 8 through the air for 105 yards..
Wingback Stone Sander also was prominent for the Miners as he tallied touchdowns on an 18-yard pass from Cota and another on a 17-yard run.
NU led 12-0 at halftime but then broke the game open in the second half as the Miners limited the Herd to just four first downs in the game.
Top standouts for NU on defense included Vallejo, Ian Davis, Jamie Sanders, Jared Cook and Nate Dickinson. Cameron Townsend, Tyler Fernandez and Miguel Espinosa also shined.
Del Oro 21 Rocklin 13 - The Golden Eagles, leading 14-13, stuffed a two-point conversion try by the host Thunder with three minutes left in the game and then used a 31-yard touchdown run by Troy Kline in the waning monents to ice the Sierra Foothill League win.
Del Oro, 7-2 overall and 3-1 in SFL games, used a 51-yard run by Zach La Bar out of a "Wildcat" formation and a long pass from Peter Denham to Cody Otten to set up a three-yard run by Kline to lead 14-7.
Mark Leveron, Aaron Rieband and Tyler Wharton all had good defensive games for the Golden Eagles while Zach Heath added a pass interception.
Placer 23 Colfax 0 - Colfax’s Falcons became the first frosh football team to hold Placer running back Michael Robinson to under 100 yards rushing but it still wasn’t enough to prevent the Hillmen from keeping their Pioneer Valley League record unbeaten.
Robinson finished with “only” 93 yards on 18 carries and scored a pair of touchdowns on short runs to lead the Hillmen to a 23-0 win over the visiting Falcons.
The win moves Placer’s PVL record to 5-0 and the team’s overall slate to 8-1. Placer will meet Whitney next Thursday in Rocklin to decide the league crown. Whitney (5-0, 8-0-1) stepped out of league play Thursday and battled Oak Ridge to a 22-22 tie.
In Thursday’s game, Colfax controlled the ball and the clock in the opening quarter that ended scoreless at 0-0.
But Placer finally got untracked in the second quarter when Isaac Brahce broke a 65-yard counter play for a touchdown. Brahce finished the game with 103 yards on 10 carries for the Hillmen.
After leading 13-0 at halftime, Placer capitalized on an interception by Alex Graziano to set up a one-yard plunge by Robinson upping the count to 20-0. The Hillmen completed their scoring on a 22-yard field goal by Dominic Granieri.
Leading Placer’s defense were Robinson, Jake Lewis, Eddie Vanderdoes and Tony Suverkropp.
For Colfax, quarterback Clay Southerland, running backs Austin Perry and Henry Freer and receivers Cody Baugh and Will Buell played well on offense while Tim Stuck, Cory Schlittenhart and Chris Cand played well on defense.
Colfax (3-2, 4-4) hosts Lincoln next Thursday.
Bear River 28 Lincoln 14 – The offensive line play of Derek Lilienthal, Chris Beardsley, Jeremy Toby and Gavin Lefevre helped set the tone for the Bruins in the PVL win over the Zebras.
The fine blocking by the Bruins’ offensive line allowed Cody Heard to rush for 153 yards on 13 carries. Heard tallied a pair of touchdowns, one on a six-yard run and the other on a five-yard pass from quarterback Dillon Smith.
Smith also scored on a short run and also hit Zack Winter with another scoring pass for the winners. Bear River (2-3, 2-6) closes its season by playing at El Dorado next Thursday.