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Foothill vs. Enterprise: Keys to Friday night game. Plus, other North State match previews

Aaron Williams
·7 min read

The Foothill-Enterprise rivalry doesn’t have a fancy nickname like the River Bowl does, but make no mistake this is an intense battle annually.

Foothill holds a 15-12 edge in the series in the MaxPreps era, since 2004, having won the last eight contests.

But rivalry aside, these two teams are trying to get back on the winning train after the Hornets lost 41-8 to Red Bluff and Foothill fell 24-21 to Chico, which sits atop the Eastern Athletic League standings.

The 4-4 Hornets are 0-3 in EAL play and while it doesn’t appear Las Plumas can overtake them for the final Division II playoff spot, coach Chris Combs postseason is very much a motivation for his squad.

He said getting back to basics - and the love of the game - has been a focus this week.

“You have to keep things positive and keep them motivated,” he texted when asked about the 0-3 league start. “Still having a chance to make playoffs is a big motivation. … We’ve gotta make football fun again for them.”

Working on offensive and defensive assignments and reminders that disciplined football wins games has been at the forefront for the Hornets after their blowout loss to Red Bluff.

For Foothill (4-4, 1-2 EAL), the loss to Chico was close, but heartbreaking as the Cougars had multiple opportunities to close out the Panthers.

“That was a great learning experience for us,” Foothill coach Ross Griffith said in a text. “We felt like we had a slow start to the game and didn’t come out of the gate well. We have a pretty resilient team who is working through these experiences this year. We need to understand that we have to play four quarters of ball to win.”

He said the Cougars must take the lessons from their two close league losses and be better from them.

“You have to take these experiences and learn from them,” he said. “I think we have grown from them and are learning to handle game situations better.”

Like Combs, Griffith said the message was simple this week, “Control your controllables. Meaning do your job, team first, one play at a time.”

The Hornets are led by dual threat quarterback JJ Johnson, who has thrown for 1,412 yards and 18 scores along with 844 yards rushing and 13 touchdowns on the ground.

“EHS is a very dynamic team with JJ, (wide receiver) Porter (Fisher) and (running back Alijah) Bobo,” Griffith said. “We have to bring out A game against these guys, because if we don’t they will hurt us. They’re better than their record shows.”

Foothill’s offensive line is big, providing protection for senior quarterback Hunter Marchione (890 yards passing and 10 TDs). It also fuels a run game led by Dawson Mortimer (396 yards and 6 TDs).

Shasta (6-2, 2-1 EAL) at Chico (7-1, 3-0 EAL), 7 p.m. Friday

The Wolves wrap their road schedule looking to knock off the top dog in the league.

The Panthers are led by senior running back Dion Coleman, second in the Northern Section in rushing with 1,604 yards and 20 touchdowns. Senior quarterback Azari Cruz has thrown for 917 yards and four scores.

Shasta was shutout 10-0 by Pleasant Valley last week, the second straight year the Vikings have blanked the Wolves. Coach Aaron Richards’ crew only ran for 123 yards last week while quarterback Justin Polley added 112 yards passing.

The Shasta defense was stout in the loss to the Vikings, allowing 227 yards rushing and a score as well as 154 passing.. The Wolves will again need that effort as Chico ran for 332 yards last week in the 24-21 win over Foothill.

Pleasant Valley (5-3, 2-1 EAL) at Red Bluff (5-3, 1-2 EAL), 7 p.m. Friday

The Spartans got their biggest win of the season last week, beating Enterprise 41-8. Junior quarterback Kayden Leaf ran for 107 yards and two touchdowns and threw for another while Chaco Chavez gained 132 yards on the ground with a pair of scores.

Defensively, Red Bluff held Enterprise to 278 yards total offense as Mickey Cohn and Alejandroo Ocampo Cadotte each logged double-digit tackles. Junior Jaden Bommer had an interception and Red Bluff forced two fumbles.

A Spartans’ Senior Night win would add a little chaos to the playoff picture, which has to be seeded by order of league finish.

Yreka (5-3, 1-2 NAL) at U-Prep (7-1, 3-0 NAL), 7:30 p.m. Friday

The Panthers look to keep rolling through their Northern Athletic League schedule on Senior Night against a Miners team that U-Prep coach Dustin Fortenberry said is having a heck of a year.

Yreka was off to a 5-1 start before dropping its last two league contests to Central Valley and a suddenly resurgent Lassen program. Senior running back Mason Rabagao has 713 yards rushing for the Miners while senior QB Lucas Day has 690 yards passing and 713 yards on the ground with 24 combined touchdowns.

Fortenberry said the game plan is to spread the ball around to their playmakers in order to keep the Miners offense at bay. U-Prep is led by senior quarterback Sawyer Hokanson, who has thrown for nearly 2,000 yards and 22 scores. Sophomore Tyson Wurzer leads the team in rushing with 588 yards and six TDs, while senior brother Bailey Wurzer has 431 yards rushing and five scores.

Lassen (3-5, 2-1 NAL) at Central Valley (5-3, 2-1 NAL), 7:30 p.m. Friday

After an 0-4 start and coaching change, the Grizzlies have won three of their last four including two resounding wins over West Valley and Yreka. Brothers Dathen Moore, a sophomore, and senior Deshon Moore have combined for more than 1,300 yards rushing in the old-school Lassen running attack.

But the Falcons counter that with their own ground-and-pound assault led by Deigo Recio, the section’s leading runner. He’s run for 1,613 yards on 187 carries and a school record 21 touchdowns this season. He also leads the team in tackles.

West Valley (2-6, 1-2 NAL) at Anderson (3-5, 0-3 NAL), 7:30 p.m. Friday

The Eagles’ lone NAL win was a thrilling 44-38 victory over CV, but they’ve since been blown out by Lassen and U-Prep in successive weeks. West Valley looks to rebound against district rival Anderson, which has lost four of its past five games including all three league contests.

West Valley and Anderson sit Nos. 9 and 10, respectively, in playoff points released by the Northern Section.

Sophomore quarterback John Puffer leads the Eagles offense with 971 yards passing and five touchdowns, but has tossed 14 interceptions. Cooper Staup leads Dub-V with 515 yards rushing and four scores.

The Cubs have seven backs with more than 100 yards rushing, led by senior Malachi Taylor’s 293 yards and five scores.

Other Northern Section games

  • Los Molinos (5-3) at Fall River (6-2), 7:30 p.m. Friday

  • Redding Christian (2-7) at Etna (0-8), 7:30 p.m. Friday

  • Corning (2-6) at Orland (6-1), 7:30 p.m. Friday

  • Burney (4-4) at Tulelake (7-2), 6 p.m. Friday

  • Mount Shasta (1-7) at Hamilton (6-2), 7:30 p.m. Friday

  • Trinity (3-5) at Williams (2-6), 7:30 p.m. Friday

  • Weed (6-2) at Modoc (4-4), 7:30 p.m. Friday

  • Willows (2-6) at Biggs (5-3), 7 p.m. Friday

  • Durham (1-6) at Pierce (5-3) 7 p.m. Friday

  • Marysville (5-4) at Twelve Bridges (9-0), 7:15 p.m. Friday

  • Gridley (6-2) at Las Plumas (4-4), 7:30 p.m. Friday

This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: Foothill vs. Enterprise: Keys to Friday night football game