Opinion by Ray Wolf

Alright, it might be a bit much to label the Mt. Shasta Bears a soccer “dynasty,” but only a little bit.

Consider this: the Bears wrapped up the Shasta Cascade League post season tournament championship today with a 5-2 thumping of the Fall River Bulldogs. They also registered their third straight SCL regular season championship.

Want more? Okay, how about a 26-3-2 record in SCL play over the past three years. Make it the past four years and you get a record of 32-5-4, three championships, and a second place finish. Add in the two SCL tourney wins and it becomes 34-5-4.

Maybe they are a dynasty, at least in the SCL. I don’t think Fall River would argue.

The Bulldogs put up a good fight in the championship game, but the Bears simply overpowered the visitors.

The Bears narrowly missed scoring five minutes into the match, when Zack Morris bounced a shot off the crossbar. A minute later they were on the board, when Liam O’Hara blasted a shot through the Fall River keeper’s hands. The assist went to Morris. (more…)

WEED – The College of the Siskiyous Lady Eagles volleyball team now has something in common with Wiley Coyote—both came close, but neither could catch the Road Runner. The Butte College Road Runners (23-3) paid a visit to Weed and went home with a 3-1 win, despite furious comeback attempts by the Lady Eagles.

Set-one was all about Butte, as the Road Runners controlled from start to finish, beating an apparently stunned COS squad 25-13. It looked like it was going to be a short night.

Set-two began in similar fashion, with Butte going up 5-1. COS, however, managed to maintain contact. With a raucous crowd of Eagle football players dominating the cheering section, and trailing 19-14, the Lady Eagles made their move.

A kill by Katie Zauner made it 19-15. Another Zauner rocket cut it to 19-17. An ace by Heather Wicks brought COS to within a single point at 19-18. Butte pushed its lead back to three points at 23-20, but a Laura McMahon kill started a 4-0 run by the Lady Eagles. Next, Amber Franko notched an ace, 23-22. Wicks tied it with a kill, 23-23. And a block by McMahon gave COS its first lead of the match.

Butte regained the lead 25-24, but a pair of kills by Kinzy Towry, including the set-winner, sandwiched around a kill by Zauner gave the Lady Eagles the win 27-25. (more…)

Opinion by Ray Wolf

Sometimes, people define a team by its last game of the season. Sometimes, that does a great injustice to what the team has accomplished. To let the Weed Cougars’ 3-1 loss to the Fall River Bulldogs last night be the last word on their season would be an injustice. For the record, Fall River caught Weed’s future superstar goalkeeper away from the net twice for goals. The first coming a little under 20 minutes into the match, and the second with just eight minutes or so to play.

In between, Jose Luquin used a free kick to set up Salvador Avila for a header to tie the score at 1-1, less than two minutes after Fall River had scored its first goal. The final Bulldog goal came in the last minute of play on a breakaway, while the Cougars were in an all out effort to tie the match.

One of the significant positives to come out of the match was the high level of support from the community. The crowd may have been the biggest ever for an SCL game in Siskiyou County. It looked more like a football crowd than a soccer crowd. And, when you have a football guy in the announcer’s booth yelling “Goooooooal” when the Cougars’ scored, you know soccer has arrived in Weed. (more…)

MOUNT SHASTA – The Mt. Shasta Bears earned the top seed in the Shasta Cascade League’s post season tournament by winning the SCL regular season, with a record of 9-1. The Trinity Wolves won just enough SCL games (4-6) to make the tournament as the last seed at number-4. On paper it looked like a potential blow out, and easy advancement to the championship game for the Bears. It wasn’t.

The expected blow out seemed to be well on the way, Tuesday afternoon, when Bear John Holst passed across the Trinity net to Zack Morris, who headed it home for a 1-0 lead less than five minutes into the match.

With just under 20 minutes played, Holst intercepted a goal kick by Trinity, and launched a rocket past the Wolves’ keeper for a 2-0 lead.

The Wolves, however, didn’t run and cower. Instead, nine minutes later they responded with a goal of their own, cutting the Bears lead to 2-1. The score remained the same at halftime.

There were scoring opportunities by both teams in the second half, with perhaps the best coming with about five minutes left to play. Holst was in alone on the Trinity keeper, who came up with a fantastic point-blank save, to preserve The Wolves’ hopes of a comeback—a comeback that never materialized, as the Bears advanced to the championship game with a 2-1 win. (more…)

CORNING – The Northern Athletic League girls individual tennis championships were held last Friday and Saturday, and Yreka got a surprise performance from their number-6 player, Selena Sendejo.

Sendejo pulled an opening round upset of Anderson’s top player, Yui Gabrielle 9-8. She then took down Anderson’s number-4 in the second round (6-4, 6-1).

Sendejo lost to Corning’s top player, Sonya Scott, in the quarter finals  (2-6, 0-6), and finished the tournament with a loss to Corning’s number-4, Magali Hernandez in three sets (2-6, 6-4, 3-6).

Sendejo drew praise from coaches at the tournament, one

calling her the “Wild card of the championships.” Her own coach, Steve Pyles called her the, “Last Miner Standing.”

In doubles, the duo of Jessica Shuler and Kendall Taylor won their first round match against Anderson’s number-2 pair, Jennifer Haney and Melissa Chipley, 8-2. Shuler and Kendall were knocked out in the second round by Corning’s number-3 team of Baillie Eller and Samantha Monroe (3-6, 2-6).

YREKA, CA— It seems like this year’s fair just ended, but it is time for the 2009 Siskiyou Golden Fair theme contest.
The Siskiyou Golden Fair is extending an invitation to residents and organizations of Siskiyou County to enter the annual theme contest. The winner of this contest has the pleasure of knowing their theme will be used in the overall advertising campaign used to promote the 2009 fair, as well as winning a cash prize. (more…)

YREKA – The Yreka Miners varsity football team picked up a much needed win on Friday, defeating the Corning Cardinals 27-7. The win snapped a three-game losing streak, and brings the Miners record to 4-4 overall and 1-2 in the Northern Athletic League.

Yreka was first on the board, when Manny Barragan scored from five yards out in the first quarter. Barragan also scored a 2-point conversion. A 3-yard run by Brandon Larreau and a 58-yard punt return by Barragan accounted for a pair of Miner TDs in the second quarter, with Barragan adding a PAT after his TD. Corning (3-5, 0-3) picked up seven points in the second quarter, making the halftime score 21-7. (more…)

The North Section CIF announced the first volleyball playoff points rankings of the season on Monday.

Dunsmuir (9-8) is the Siskiyou County team in the best position within its division, ranked seventh in D-VI, ahead of Greenville (8-10) and behind Princeton (10-8). Other county D-VI teams are Butte Valley (5-5) in twelfth, Happy Camp (2-5) in fifteenth, and Tulelake (2-20) in eighteenth. (more…)

The North Section CIF released the first football playoff point rankings of the season over the weekend.

Etna (7-2) is currently in the best position among Siskiyou County teams, ranked fourth in Division-IV, just ahead of U-Prep (5-2) and right behind Portola (7-1). Weed (1-8) is ranked tenth in D-IV (more…)

By Rick Martin

DUNSMUIR – There’s no questioning the heart of the Dunsmuir Tigers, but when you keep losing body parts, the heart can only do so much.

Dunsmuir dropped its second straight game Friday night, falling to visiting Greenville 36-26. The Tigers started the game with leading rusher Cory Knowles on the sideline with an ankle injury, and fellow RB Colton Sordahl slowed by a sore hip. After the game started, they would lose both their quarterbacks, Nate Gonzales and LT Hisey.

And yet, they did everything they could to pull the game out, falling just short in the 4th quarter.

Things actually started well for the Tigers, as they took a 6-0 lead just five plays into the game. Gonzalez busted free on a QB keeper on 4th and 1, and raced 52 yards for the score.

But Greenville – dealing with some injuries of its own – didn’t waste much time answering. On their first series, freshman QB Chris Brown unloaded a 48-yard TD pass to Tyler Twaddle as the Indians drew even. Brown found out Friday morning that he was starting his first HS game after senior Joshua Neff was injured in a car accident. (Neff’s injuries were not life threatening and he is expected to make a full recovery.) (more…)

WEED – The Etna Lions visited the Weed Cougars on Friday night. The Etna varsity won 44-6, and the Etna JVs won 14-6.

Weed scored on its first possession via a 6-yard run by Travis Andrews. The PAT was blocked by Lion Alex Case.

Etna took the lead on a 2-yard quarterback keeper by Jordan Pehle-Munson, and a PAT by Taylor Pehle-Munson, with 6:55 left in the first quarter. The Lions extended their lead to 14-6 early in the second quarter, when Lucas Case scored from four yards out. Jordan Pehle-Munson connected with twin Taylor Pehle-Munson for a 20-yard TD strike with 1:44 left in the half. Cougar Carlos Nava blocked the PAT, leaving Etna with a 20-6 halftime lead.

J. Munson picked up his second rushing TD at 7:29 in the third quarter and T. Munson added the PAT, making it 27-6.

Munson and Munson connected on a 17-yard pass play for a TD at the 5:19 mark of the third quarter, making it 34-6. T. Munson tacked on an 11-yard field goal in the fourth quarter, for a 37-6 Etna lead. The final score of the game came when Clint Eastlick picked off a pass with six seconds remaining and scooted 73 yards for a TD. The PAT made the final 44-6. (more…)

WEAVERVILLE – Mt. Shasta Lady Bear Lisa Shinohara finished in second place at the Trinity XC Invitational in the Women’s 3-mile race, last Thursday. Shinohara’s time of 21:24 was just 16 seconds behind winner Brooke Feranna of Central Valley (21:08).

Etna’s Jilinda Franklin finished third with a time of 21:43. (more…)

YREKA – The Yreka Lady Miner JV volleyball team dropped game-one to the Lassen Lady Grizzlies 25-20, and looked to be in trouble in game-two. But Yreka, pulled off a 26-24 win on a block by Alexis Yaple-Whitten, to send the match to a decisive game-three.

Lassen took an early 5-2 lead in the final game—a game to 15 points, Yreka battled back to tie it at 6-6 on an ace by Theresa Borg. A Kalina Betts’ kill gave the Lady Miners the lead 7-6. With the score knotted at 9-9, Karlee Andrighetto regained the lead for Yreka at 10-9, with a kill. A block by Whitten, and a pair of aces by Andrighetto put Yreka up 13-9. Yreka went on to win 15-10.

Varsity

The Lady Miner varsity squad started slow out of the gate, and really never clicked, despite winning game-two. Lassen sprinted out to an eight point lead in game-one 13-5, before Yreka rallied to make it close. A serving error by the Lady Grizzlies made it 13-6. Whitney Ebejer served up an ace, making it 13-7. A kill by Kayla Whistler narrowed the margin to 13-8. (more…)

The final Impact Player Award for October goes to Jose Luquin. Luquin is a mid-fielder on the Weed Cougars soccer team, and is one of the main reasons why the Cougars are the most improved team in Siskiyou County this season—in any sport.

Suffering through years of mediocrity or worse, the Cougars have become one of the top soccer teams in the Shasta Cascade League, as well as in the North Section’s small schools division.

I’d put up stats for Luquin, but he’s really not a stats kind of player. Don’t get me wrong. he can score, and does. Luquin scored a pressure-packed, game-winning goal in the Cougars’ early season upset of Tulelake. But what he does on an everyday basis is much more important. He provides leadership and stability.

“Jose is an all around player. Offense, defense, he does everything asked of him, and then some,” said Weed Coach Mike Gilmore. “He’s a leader. He’s always helping the younger players improve. Jose’s a wonderful kid.”

The Impact Player Award is given on a monthly basis and goes to Siskiyou County high school athletes, male or female, that have had a significant impact on the success of their team. (more…)

WEED – The Weed Cougars needed a win to maintain the possibility of a 2-seed in the upcoming Shasta Cascade League tournament. The Etna Lions needed a win just to keep the tiniest chance alive to even make the tournament. A draw would have hurt both teams.

The first 30 minutes of the match was a draw, with Weed maintaining a slight territorial advantage. The first goal came when Lion Juan Castaneda slipped behind the Cougar defense and scored, giving the Lions a 1-0 advantage 31 minutes into the contest. Etna maintained the lead at the half.

During halftime, Weed held a senior parent appreciation ceremony, with the players presenting the mothers with roses. Principal Mike Ristuccia read comments that the players had written. (more…)