Local Football – 10/16

As the regular high school season is nearing, here are the results of recent games and outlooks on upcoming contests:

Bear River Bruins: Although the Marysville Indians outgained the Bruins last Friday night with 239 yards compared to 193 yards, the Bruins’ defense was toughened enough in the red zone to limit the visiting Indians to one touchdown, and the Bruins now have a 5-3 win-loss record for the season. Tomorrow night, Bear River will host the Colfax Falcons. Since the Falcons lost (25-29) to Marysville on 9/26, the odds for the Bruins securing their third conference victory this week are favorable.

Chester Volcanos: Last Friday, the Volcanos played on the road for their fourth consecutive week and lost (26-58) to the Plumas Charter Warriors, their fourth straight loss. Unfortunately for the Volcanos, while they don’t have to travel this week, they will be hosting the Hayfork Timberjacks tomorrow night, a team with a 7-0 win-loss record this season.

Colfax Falcons: Led by sophomore Adam Amatangelo, who completed 11 of 17 passes for 227 yards, junior Graeson Howard, who rushed for 84 yards, and senior Josiah Rubidoux, who caught five passes for 134 yards, the Falcons ended a five-game losing streak last Friday evening with a 48-34 victory at home against the Center Cougars from Antelope. Tomorrow at 7:15 PM, the Falcons will take their 2-5 win-loss record into a game against the 5-2 Bear River Bruins, hoping their offense can repeat last week’s excellent performance.

Herlong Vikings: After a bye week following their 44-20 defeat of the Westwood Lumberjacks on October 4, tomorrow the Vikings will travel to Bieber, CA for a contest against the Big Valley Cardinals. Since Big Valley is winless this season and lost to Westwood 22-30 on September 19, the Vikings’ chances of closing their season with another win are very good.

Lassen Grizzlies: In the wake of walloping the Anderson Cubs, 43-6, last Friday, the Grizzlies are traveling tomorrow to Redding for a match-up with the University Prep Panthers. After outscoring their opponents 99-20 in their last two games and facing a team with only two wins after six games this season, the Grizzlies are in an excellent position to post a third straight victory.

Loyalton Grizzlies: Last Saturday, after a long (250+ mile) trip to Trinity County, the Grizzlies ran into a buzzsaw and lost their game against the Hayfork Lumberjacks by a score of 0-52. Tomorrow’s home conference game against the Tulelake Honkers will also be challenging; Tulelake has scored twice as many points this season as Loyalton. But MaxPreps.com only ranks the Honkers slightly higher than the Grizzlies, so the game looks to be very competitive.

Modoc Braves: Last week, the Braves had a bye week to rest and regroup after the previous week’s brutal 6-60 loss to the unbeaten Redding Christian Lions. Tomorrow, the Braves will host the Weed Cougars, a team without a victory in its six contests of the 2025 season. Thus, the odds of the Braves leveling their season’s record at 3-3 are good.

Nevada Union Miners: Unfortunately, the Miners lost (3-28) for the fourth straight week when they played the Roseville Tigers last Friday night. This week, however, the Miners will be at home to face a much weaker foe, the Del Campo Cougars. Thus, an end to the Miners’ losing streak is likely.

Placer Hillmen: The Hillmen were unable to arrest the potent offense of the unbeaten Twelve Bridges Raging Rhinos last Friday and were defeated 24-49. Tomorrow night, the Hillmen will travel to play the Yuba City Honkers. As it happens, both teams go into the contest with four wins and three losses during the 2025 season. However, since the Hillmen average more points scored than the Honkers and have faced tougher competition, MaxPreps.com ranks Placer much higher than Yuba City. This game will be a good test of MaxPrep.com’s ranking system.

Plumas Charter Warriors: On 10/10, the Warriors’ offense overwhelmed the banged-up defense of the Chester Volcanos and won, 58-26. This week, the Warriors will play the Burney Raiders, a team that scored 26 points to Plumas Charter’s 20 points on 9/26. If the Warriors’ offense can click against the Raiders as it did against the Volcanos, Plumas Charter has a good chance of bringing home a victory tomorrow night.

Portola Tigers: As we expected, last week’s contest against the Williams Yellowjackets was very competitive, and the Tigers pulled off a 17-13 win. Tomorrow night’s game, at home, against the Biggs Wolverines will be a bigger challenge for the Tigers since Biggs has a slightly better won-loss record than the Tigers (3-3 vs. 2-4) and is ranked higher than the Tigers, as well, by MaxPreps.com.

Quincy Trojans: The visiting Maxwell Panthers handed the Trojans their consecutive loss last Friday when they defeated Quincy, 42-7. After a bye this week, the Trojans will play the Williams Yellowjackets, a much weaker team than those the Trojans have faced over the past month.

Truckee Wolverines: Last Friday, Winnemucca’s Lowry Buckaroos bowed to the Wolverines, 56-0. This week, given the 1-8 win-loss record of their opponent, the Sparks Railroaders, the Wolverines are definitely favored to win their seventh game of the season.

Westwood Lumberjacks: After a week off from competition, the Lumberjacks will be at home while playing the Butte Valley Bulldogs tomorrow evening. While Westwood is ranked slightly below Butte Valley by MaxPreps.com, the Lumberjacks have home-field advantage on their side.