Local Football – 10/30

Here are the results from last week for the region’s teams we’ve been following this season. Next week, we will report the results from this week’s games, along with the outlook for teams who have earned postseason berths.

Bear River Bruins: After a week off, tomorrow the Bruins travel to Antelope, CA, for their last game of the regular season. Given their better record against common opponents this season, the Bruins are favored to beat the Center Cougars.

Chester Volcanos: Last Friday, the Volcanos went down to their sixth straight loss when the visiting Tulelake Honkers outscored the home team, 44-20. Unfortunately, the odds of the Volcanos ending their six-game losing streak are slim. Tomorrow night, the team travels to play their last regular-season game of 2025 against the Burney Raiders, the team that outscored the Volcanos 18-8 back on 9/19.

Colfax Falcons: As we feared, despite a third consecutive week of excellent offensive performances from quarterback Adam Amatangelo, running back Graeson Howard, and receiver Josiah Rubidoux, the Falcons fell victim to the superior offense and defense of the visiting Lincoln Raging Rhinos, and ended their regular season last Friday night with a 14-49 loss.

Lassen Grizzlies: With a 42-21 victory over the visiting West Valley Eagles (Cottonwood, CA) last Friday, the Grizzlies extended their win streak to four games and gained sole possession of first place in their conference. To cement their lead in this conference, the Grizzlies will need to beat the second-place Yreka Miners when they travel to Yreka tomorrow.

Loyalton Grizzlies: Last Saturday, at home, the Grizzlies needed a couple of two-point conversions, a safety, and a fourth-quarter touchdown to post a hard-fought, 24-20 victory over the visiting Burney Raiders. Now tied for second place in their conference, the team is looking to cement this position and secure postseason seeding when they travel to play their final regular-season game against the Plumas Charter Warriors this evening.

Modoc Braves: After traveling more than 2 hours to play the Mt. Shasta Bears last Friday and losing, 7-12, a game dominated by defenses, the Braves have another long (almost 3.5-hour) road trip tomorrow before their game against the Etna Lions. However, given their opponents’ weakness (the Lions have won only one of their eight games this season), the Braves have a good chance of returning home victorious.

Nevada Union Miners: Last Friday night, seniors Rhyder Eelkema and B. McCallum rushed for 209 and 123 yards, respectively, and the Miners came very close to upsetting the Placer Hillmen in Auburn. However, the final score was 33-30 in favor of the Hillmen, with the margin of victory coming from a 91-yard kickoff return by Placer’s D. Sanchez-Harlow. Tomorrow night, at home in the final contest of their regular season, the Miners will host the Yuba City Honkers. With MaxPreps.com ranking the Miners only slightly higher than the Honkers, home-field advantage could be the edge the Miners need to secure a victory.

Placer Hillmen: As noted above, the Hillmen needed a spectacular kickoff return to avoid being upset by the Nevada Union Miners last week. Now, the Hillmen are tied for second place in the Foothill Valley conference with the Roseville Tigers, their final opponent of the regular season. Again, the Hillmen will need to take full advantage of playing at home to beat the much higher-ranked Tigers.

Plumas Charter Warriors: Last week, this column gave the Warriors little chance of beating the powerful (8-0) Hayfork Timberjacks. In fact, the Warriors were beaten 0-66 by the Timberjacks in Hayfork. This evening, however, the Warriors will be at home to face the Loyalton Grizzlies. While Loyalton is ranked slightly higher than the Warriors by MaxPreps.com, home-field advantage does give the Warriors a chance to upset the Grizzlies.

Portola Tiger: When the Tigers traveled to play the Maxwell Panthers last week, the 5-2 Panthers had little trouble beating the 2-5 Tigers. The final score was Maxwell 38 and Portola 7. Tomorrow night, the Tigers travel to Palo Cedro for a non-conference game against the Redding Christian Lions. Since the Lions have won all eight games they’ve played this season, it would be a massive upset if Portola came home victorious this week.

Quincy Trojans: Last Friday, the Trojans halted a four-game losing streak when they defeated the visiting Williams Yellowjackets in Quincy, 21-13. This week, the Trojans travel to play the Los Molinos Bulldogs, a team ranked only slightly higher than the Trojans by MaxPreps.com. Thus, the Trojans have a decent chance of coming home with their fourth win of the season.

Truckee Wolverines: With a 42-14 win over the South Tahoe Vikings last Friday, the Wolverines ended their regular season tied with Fernly for third place in Nevada’s 3A Northern Football conference with a six-win and two-loss record.

Westwood Lumberjacks: Unfortunately, after a narrow (32-24) loss to the Butte Valley Bulldogs at home on 9/17, when the Lumberjacks made the two-hour trip to Dorris for a rematch last week, they were clobbered 66-18. With a four-hour journey to play the Happy Camp Indians tomorrow, a team that beat them 30-26 in Westwood on 9/26, the odds of the Lumberjacks winning the final game of their regular season are slim.