Game of the Week: Foothill visits Shasta to kick off Eastern Athletic League play
The first leg in owning the Shasta District Trophy, a three-headed and ridiculously heavy testament to the best program in the Shasta Union High School District, kicks off the Eastern Athletic League schedule as Foothill (3-2) visits Shasta (4-1) at 7 p.m. Friday at Thompson Field.
If a district school — Shasta, Foothill or Enterprise — can sweep the season series they get to hold the trophy until the following season. If there’s a split, the team currently holding the trophy, Foothill in this case, keeps it.
The Wolves are coming off a bye following their 34-8 win over another Foothill, the 3-3 Mustangs from Sacramento.
Foothill enters league play after a 46-13 dismantling of Corning last week. The Cougars scheduled up considerably in the preseason with losses to Edison (Stockton) and San Marin (Novato), who are a combined 10-2.
Here are five takeaways entering the EAL opener:
Importance of getting a league victory
“This game is so important,” Shasta coach Aaron Richards said of opening EAL play. “You have the chance to be tied for first or tied for last in your first week.”
Foothill coach Ross Griffith echoed the sentiment saying EAL opens the second phase of their season.
“The first phase (pre-league) is to get us prepared for the second phase,” he said. “And the league opener is big in that it can set us up for a postseason run.”
More: Red Bluff football blows past West Valley after trailing early
Focus on the mind
Both coaches mentioned “focus” when talking about preparation for Friday’s showdown, though the context was different for each squad.
Griffith, who said the week’s theme was focus.
“We need to be focused on our jobs and the task ahead of us,” he said. “The bottom line is going to be execution, who can execute more efficiently.”
Richards’ focus message was internal. He said no one, players or coaches, was happy with the Wolves’ 34-8 win over Foothill (Sacramento) two weeks ago and practice has been about getting back to what they do well.
“Penalties have been our Achilles heel and winning hides things, but we know we have to play a much cleaner game in all three phases to win a game in the EAL,” he said. “You love winning, but there’s a new standard for what’s acceptable.”
Familiarity
Richards and Griffith go way back to when the Shasta coach was a player for Griffith during his West Valley days. And while they two chat weekly, they both said Sunday’s call was it until after Friday’s contest.
And likewise, most of the coordinators are friendly and familiar with one another. Shasta defensive coordinator Jim Schuette was with Foothill for years under Bryon Hamilton and both team’s offensive coordinators — Todd Buck at Foothill and Dennis Cahill for the Wolves — coach boys golf against each other.
“We know them and they know us,” Griffith said. “Aaron has coordinators where I’m calling plays, and all the kids know each other.”
Playmakers
The spark plug for the Cougars is slot receiver/safety Chris Hall, who’s being recruited by Drake University. Through four games of stats posted on MaxPreps, he has two interceptions and a team-high 289 receiving yards with four touchdowns.
Griffith also noted inside backer/running back Dawson Mortimer as a glue guy.
“He’s kind of an unsung hero,” the coach said. “He doesn’t get a lot of pub, but week in, week out he’s getting it done.”
Likewise, senior quarterback Hunter Marichone drew praise for maturing into the role with more than 450 yards passing and six touchdowns.
“He’s doing a great job of getting it done,” Griffith said. “He didn’t get a whole lot of reps last year and is really growing as a quarterback.”
The Wolves have won the games they were supposed to thus far with a fast, but younger team led by junior quarterback Justin Polley and speedster Owen Boesiger.
Polley is 34-of-51 for 564 yards and seven passing touchdowns while Boesiger has 14 receptions and four scores in the Wolves’ run-first Wing-T offense. Mix in the running of fullback Ryder May (490 yards and 7 TDs) and Shasta is not as one-dimensional as in years past.
“With Ryder, Owen, Kyle Wilkes and our other playmakers it does come down to our quarterback making good decisions and getting positive yards on first down,” Richards said. “I’ve really enjoyed watching Dennis (Cahill) work with these kids with our same concepts but with wrinkles.”
More: Fan vote: Who has the best football section in the Redding area?
New tradition
While Shasta has Enterprise as its main rival — note, the River Bowl is coming Oct. 13 — Richards and Griffith decided to put a wrinkle on this meeting to make it a little more special.
The result? A color rush game. Both teams will wear their home uniforms, meaning the Wolves will be decked out in all purple while the Cougars will don their all-red unis.
Friday Night Lights
Enterprise (4-1) at Pleasant Valley (3-2), 7 p.m. Friday
The Shasta-Foothill clash gets the Game of the Week nod because it’s A) local and B) two Redding teams, but the first salvo for EAL supremacy will be at Asgard Yard as the Hornets take on the Vikings.
Enterprise has been prolific offensively with a signature 39-35 win over reigning 5-A state champion Orland to start the season. The Hornets, who have also taken the mantle of playing out of section in the preseason lost 24-21 to Redwood (Larkspur) last week as the Giants scored 14 fourth-quarter points.
Three-star dual-purpose quarterback JJ Johnson ran for 136 yards and three scores in the loss. He’s got 16 total touchdowns on the season and his favorite target is junior Porter Fischer, who had 476 yards on 29 catches and 11 touchdowns.
The Vikings, meanwhile, are coming off a big 35-7 out-of-section win over North Coast Section’s Rancho Cotate. Their two losses are to Central Catholic (Modesto) and Oak Ridge (El Dorado Hills), ranked Nos. 4 and 5, respectively, in the tough Sac-Joaquin Section.
Junior running back and middle linebacker Lucas Benson leads the Vikings with 390 yards rushing and seven scores as well as 26 tackles.
Chico (4-1) at Red Bluff (4-1), 7 p.m. Friday
The Spartans haven’t seen this type of success in nearly 20 years and have the task of containing the section’s leading rusher in Chico’s Dion Coleman. The 5-foot-8 senior has rushed for 867 yards on 82 carries (10.6 per carry) and 12 touchdowns.
Red Bluff coach Jacob Daricek said his squad is happy, but not satisfied.“We’re trying to enjoy 4-1 … Red Bluff hasn’t been 4-1 since 2004, but our league is super tough and we’re trying to build a program that can compete,” he said.
The Spartans got a pair of 100-yard performances from senior Chaco Chavez and junior quarterback Kayden Leaf, who found the end zone twice.
Daricek said the challenge of seeing a runner like Coleman, who missed his junior season with injury, is one he hopes his young squad relishes. Free safety Mickey Cohn, who had 17 tackles last week, has been a leader of the defense asked to at least limit Coleman.
Lassen (1-4) at U-Prep (4-1), 7:30 p.m. Friday
The Grizzlies come to Redding fresh off their first win of the season following a coaching change that put Jason McMullen in charge and back to Lassen’s familiar Wing-T.
U-Prep coach Dustin Fortenberry, who said he played with McMullen at Shasta College, said the Panthers are going to get everyone’s best shot following their rise over the past few years and that includes the resurgent Grizzlies.
Offensively, the Panthers are fueled by senior quarterback Sawyer Hokanson, who has thrown for 1,167 yards and 11 touchdowns against two interceptions. Sophomore Tyson Wurzer (376 yards, 4 TDs) and Bailey Wurzer (238 yards, 3 TDs) balance the offense while junior end Devin Huegel anchors the Panthers’ defensive trenches.
“They have two brothers (Deshon and Dathen Moore) who run the ball well,” Fortenberry said of the “new-look” Grizzlies. “It’s about being consistent up front, reading our keys and reading them fast. The Moore brothers are physical backs and it suits them.”
Central Valley (3-2) at West Valley (1-4), 7:30 p.m. Friday
One of the more interesting Northern Athletic League games takes place at The Pasture.
A short-handed Eagles squad enters after losing to Red Bluff despite being down double-digit starters. They’ll need some of those guys back in order to stop Falcons’ senior running back Diego Recio, who has 745 yards on 77 carries and 11 touchdowns.
“We haven’t beat West Valley in 10 years,” said CV coach Kyle Anderson. “As an alumni and someone who was on staff last time it happened, you’re going to need all 11 guys on the field doing their jobs.”
Yreka (4-1) at Anderson (3-2), 7:30 p.m. Friday
The Miners are coming off two blowout wins over Mt. Shasta and Trinity behind senior quarterback Lucas Day (481 yards, 6 TDs) and senior back Mason Rabago (569 yards, 11 TDs).
Both teams have losses to Colusa — Anderson lost 34-0 while Yreka fell 12-6 — and Big Blue enters after a 54-0 blowout against a winless Oroville squad.
The Cubs have a quartet of backs — Malachi Tyler, Chris Fain, Porter Virgin and Michael Manley — all over 150 yards rushing and a combined nine touchdowns.
Redding Christian (2-4) at Weed (4-1), 7:30 p.m. Friday
The Lions are coming off a 26-13 loss at Quincy and head to play a Cougars’ squad that owns wins over Trinity, Mt. Shasta, Los Molinos and Etna.
Redding Christian is led offensively by senior quarterback Max Beasley, who has thrown for 528 yards and six scores on 32-of-43 passing. His favorite targets are sophomore Brodie Ogden and senior Gavin Webb. Beasley also leads the team with 35 tackles.
Other Northern Section games
Fall River (4-1) at Etna (0-5), 7:30 p.m. Friday
Oroville (0-5) at Orland (3-1), 7:30 p.m. Friday
Corning (1-4) at Gridley (3-2), 7:30 p.m. Friday
Trinity (2-3) at Biggs (3-2), 7 p.m. Friday
Los Molinos (3-3) at Quincy (3-3), 7:30 p.m. Friday
Paradise (2-3) at Las Plumas (2-3), 7:30 p.m. Friday
Willows (1-4) at Hamilton (3-2), 7:30 p.m. Friday
East Nicolaus (3-2) at Durham (1-3), 7:30 p.m. Friday
Portola (6-0) at Modoc (2-3), 7:30 p.m. Friday
Chester (3-2) at Tulelake (6-0), 6 p.m. Friday
Hayfork (6-0) at Big Valley (4-0), 6 p.m. Friday
Princeton (1-3) at Happy Camp (0-3), 6 p.m. Friday
This article originally appeared on Visalia Times-Delta: Game of the Week: Foothill visits Shasta to kick off EAL play
