The third Impact Player Award for October goes to running back and linebacker Miguel Rodriguez of the Mt. Shasta Bears football team.

Early in the season I noticed Rodriguez in the back field, which was something new. Then, I noticed Rodriguez running over people and gaining big chunks of yardage. As the season has progressed, he’s shown more and more signs of being an Impact Player, on both offense and defense.

I began to think, “This guy deserves the award.”

One problem though, Miguel is my wife’s nephew, and I’ve always been a little uneasy about giving awards to family members. I’d never give one that wasn’t earned, but sometimes people are weird with their perceptions.

So, I explained the award to Mt. Shasta Bears football coach Mike Davis on the phone, and asked him to pick an Impact Player from his team. Davis thought for a few seconds.

“At this point, I would have to say Miguel Rodriguez. Overall, he’s played very, very well. He had four touchdowns against Pierce and 125 yards rushing. He also had 11 tackles and an interception. With the loss of Corben Brooks, he’s had to step up more on defense,” said Davis. “Miguel was going to play soccer this year. Thank goodness that he chose football.” (more…)

YREKA – The second California High School Rodeo for District-1 was held last Saturday and Sunday, as well as the 3rd and 4th Jr. Wrangler rodeos. Daniel Ferreria of Fort Jones earned All-Around Cowboy honors. Red Bluff’s Callie Anthony took All-Around Cowgirl honors.

Sterling Humphrey of McArthur was Jr. Wrangler All-Around Cowboy for both rodeo three and four. Fort Jones’ Linda Johnson was Jr. Wrangler All-Around Cowgirl for rodeo number three. Courtney Wood of Chico took All-Around for rodeo four.

Sunday was “Tough Enough to Wear Pink” day. All participants were encouraged to wear pink, as part of the effort to raise awareness of breast cancer. Matt and Eleanor Wilson donated a silver buckle to All-Around winners, who were wearing pink.

CHSRA Results
All Around Cowboy: Daniel Ferreira, Ft Jones 83 pts
Reserve AA:  Dean Autry, Ft Jones 59
2nd runner up:  Lane Wilson, Montague 54
3rd runner up: Blaine Davies, Gerber 50
4th runner up: Casey Loverin, Cottonwood 41

All Around Cowgirl: Callie Anthony, Red Bluff 81 pts
Reserve AA: Rylee Lamson, Corning 76.5
2nd runner up: Jenna Price, Orland 72.5
3rd runner up: Brandi Anthony, Red Bluff 70.5
4th runner up: Kayla Johnson, Fort Jones 66 (more…)

WEED – The College of the Siskiyous Eagles opened up Mid-Empire Conference play with a 58-49 win over the Feather River Golden Eagles, on Saturday. While the score might suggest a shootout, it was more like complete and utter domination for the first quarter by COS, and then a wild ride to victory. COS scored 28 points in the opening quarter, Feather River scored 22 in the fourth.

The Eagles drove 64 yards on the opening possession to take a 7-0 lead. The impressive drive included a spectacular one-handed catch by Darius Davis for 37 yards, which set up a 3-yard TD run by Patrick Lunney.

It took the COS defense just two plays to get the ball back in the hands of the offense, when KC Swain recovered a Feather River fumble on the COS 46.

Eagle QB Aqura Brown completed three passes on the short drive—one to Lunney for 13 yards, another to Anthony Young for seven yards, and the TD strike to Young for eight yards. Justin Ecklin added the PAT, making it 14-0, half away through the first quarter.

The Eagle defense stuffed Feather River on its next possession, with Michael Seifert and George Trenton combining on a tackle for a loss of four yards on first down. Steven Butrick came up with a sack for a 3-yard loss, and then had a tackle for a 1-yard loss. Again, the defense gave the offense a short field, with the Eagles setting up shop on the Feather River 48. On third-and-nine, Brown hit Young with a pass for a 47-yard TD. Add in the PAT and it was 21-0, with 2:53 left in the quarter. At that point the question was: how best to describe the Feather River defense…toast or Swiss cheese? (more…)

JVs and Frosh also on wrong end of score

YREKA – Both the Yreka Miners and the Lassen Grizzlies entered their football contest on Friday night with records of 3-3. But, records can be deceiving. Lassen’s preseason included a win over Chico. The losses were to Pleasant Valley, Paradise, and Foothill—all much larger schools. Yreka’s preseason was a bit less challenging.

The Miners, however, did not appear intimidated by their large school opponent, going toe-to-toe with the Grizzlies early on.

Lassen scored on their first possession, an 80-yard drive, capped by a 4-yard run. With the PAT, Lassen led 7-0 three minutes into the game.

The ensuing kick off went out of bounds, giving the Miners possession on their own 35-yard-line. Yreka moved the ball to mid-field behind strong runs by Manny Barragan, and Brandon Larreau. From mid-field, Barragan broke a run for 45 yards to take Yreka to the 5-yard-line. On the next play, Larreau scored on a 5-yard QB keeper. Larreau and Joe Wilson alternated at the QB position throughout the game. Barragan added the PAT to tie the game at 7-7, with 14 seconds left in the first quarter. (more…)

JVs also prevail

ETNA – The potential had been there the whole season, and there had been flashes of brilliance before, but last Thursday night it all came together in full force for the Etna Lady Lions volleyball team. Etna dominated the Shasta Cascade League leading Fall River Bulldogs 3-1 (25-10, 25-18, 20-25, 25-16). The Bulldogs had been undefeated in the SCL, and ranked 15^th in the section by MaxPreps .

The Lady Lions jumped out to a 5-0 start in game-one behind an ace by Annalesia Nadig and a kill by Claire Pynes. With Etna leading 6-2, Sarah Loogman hammered a pair of kills to make it 8-2.

Etna led 9-6, when the Lady Lions blew the game open, starting with a side out via a Nadig kill. That began a run of six straight points, including three aces by Paige Finley, and a block by Teri Szczapanek, to go up 15-6. Etna was up 21-10, when a Loogman kill started a string of four straight points, including an ace by Hillary Hampton, and a block by Finley to end the game 25-10. (more…)

YREKA – It was a great day for the host Yreka Miners at Greenhorn Park on Wednesday, as both the boys and girls varsity teams won the Northern Athletic League Center Meet, against Corning, Central Valley, and Lassen.

Miner Aiden McKee notched his first meet win of the season in the 5,000 meter varsity boys’ race (17:58.00). McKee led by about 100 meters coming out of the last nasty down hill turn, and went on to beat Corning’s Freddy Carillo by almost 15 seconds (18:12.96).

Kevin Jorgensen placed third (18:30.96), and Chris Lopez was fourth for Yreka (18:44.46).

For the varsity girls, Carrie Turner led the Lady Miners with a third place finish (23:12.09) in the 5,000. Ami Martin was fourth (23:48.78), and Chelsea Hamilton fifth for Yreka (24:33.84).

For the JV Boys, it was Chase Brown finishing highest for Yreka in fifth place (17:19.90). Christina Bohm was tops for the JV girls, with a third place finish (22:53.03).

The Miners’ next race will be at an NAL Center Meet hosted by West Valley that will include Anderson, on Wednesday, October 22.

For complete results go to athletic.net

MCARTHUR – If coming close to winning counted in the standings, the Mt. Shasta Lady Bears volleyball team would be near the top of the Shasta Cascade League. For the second time this season, the Lady Bears took the first place and defending co-champion Fall River Bulldogs to the maximum five games, only to see another close loss. Mt. Shasta has also taken 23-1 Burney to five games, defending SCL co-champion Etna to five games, and Trinity to five games, all losses. (more…)

MCARTHUR – The Mt. Shasta Bears soccer team took care of business in McArthur on Tuesday, defeating the Fall River Bulldogs 5-2, to clinch their third straight Shasta Cascade League championship.

With two league matches remaining the Bears are 7-1, followed by Weed at 5-3 and Fall River at 4-3. While it is possible for both Fall River and Weed to catch Mt. Shasta in SCL wins and losses, the Bears hold all the tiebreakers, having beat Fall River twice and holding the scoring edge over Weed, a team they split with during the season. The Bears remaining games are with Trinity on Tuesday, October 21, and Burney on Thursday, October 23. (more…)

DUNSMUIR – If Dunsmuir volleyball coach Lisa Kirch is sporting a few new gray hairs, it’s understandable. Her Lady Tigers seem to like play from behind, and then cut it as close as possible before finally winning. It happened again on Tuesday against the Tulelake Honkers.

The Lady Tigers won game-one 25-19. In game-two, Dunsmuir cruised out to a 13-3 lead, and it appeared that it would be an easy 3-0 match win. Then, Tulelake came storming back, going on a 15-5 run to tie the game at 18-18. The squads went back and forth until they reached 23-23. Both teams had two opportunities to put the game away, and failed, before Tulelake finally won it on their third try 30-28.

The Lady Honkers dominated game-three, jumping out to a 10-1 lead, and going on to win 25-15.

Tulelake also took a sizable lead early in game-four, at 10-5. The Lady Tigers, however, came to life and ripped off a 14-3 run to take a commanding lead 19-13. Jennifer Hope blasted four aces during the run. Leading 20-15,

Lady Tiger Rose Spagnola took the serve, and Dunsmuir scored four straight, including three Spagnola aces, making it 24-15. The Lady Honkers cut the deficit to 24-18, but a Tulelake hitting error gave Dunsmuir the win 25-18, tying the match at 2-2. (more…)

By Ray Wolf

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. I select the players based on my own observations, often in consultation with the player’s coaches, as I did this time around.

A total of four awards are given each month and are not school specific; they can go to a player at any school that Siskiyou Youth covers. Winners receive Impact T-shirts that were designed by Golden Grotto. The T-shirts and award are cosponsored by Siskiyou Youth and NorCal Classic Hits radio 102.3/101.7.

The first two recipients of the Impact Player Award are Cory Knowles from the undefeated Dunsmuir Tiger football team (6-0), and Alex Case from the 5-2 Etna Lions football team.

Knowles is an offensive machine for the Tigers, scoring three touchdowns in their win over previously unbeaten Princeton last Friday, while rushing for 228 yards. In just five games this season (The win over Happy Camp was a forfeit), Knowles has rushed for 759 yards (151.8 yds/gm), and scored 12 touchdowns. Knowles also leads the Tigers in total return yards.

Alex Case is a defensive standout for the Etna Lions, leading the team with 56 tackles through seven games. But, if you think Case is just about defense, think again. He leads the team in scoring, and is second only to his brother Lucas in rushing yards.

“Alex is our tough yards back,” said his coach, Ken Dysert.

There are two more shirts to be given away in October and I’ll be making those decisions in the next week or so. Will it be you? The only way to get it is with awesome performance that benefits your team–performance beyond sensational.

BIEBER – The Dunsmuir Lady Tigers volleyball team expected to face a hard hitting Big Valley Lady Cardinals team. But Big Valley, 4-0 in the Evergreen League, used dinks and dumps to win the match in three games (23-25, 19-25, 11-25), last Thursday. Big Valley also used a pair of six-foot Lady Cardinals to their advantage, with effective blocking at the net.

“We knew they would be a tough team. We practiced hard against the strong middle hits and cross court.  In a coaching error, I didn’t practice against the block,” said Dunsmuir Coach Lisa Kirch. “We hit into the block and dumped into the block, we just couldn’t get around their big girls. We will be working on that this week.” (more…)

ASHLAND, Ore. – Last Saturday at the State of Jefferson Cross Country Invitational, Yreka Miner Kevin Jorgensen earned a third place finish, for the second meet in a row. Jorgensen’s time was 16:33.96, about 12 seconds behind winner Drew Jordan of North Medford (16:21.12).

Jorgensen appears to be in great shape for the Northern Athletic League championships in about three weeks, scheduled for November 6. The section championships are the following week. Jorgensen has the fastest 4,000 meter time in the North Section for Division-IV, and the second fastest time in the 3-mile and 5,000 meters this season.

Mitchell Nesheim was the top finisher for Mt. Shasta in 35th (18:19.45) out of the 157 competitors. Nesheim’s time was the second fastest for NSCIF D-V this season. Javier Hansen was tops for Etna at 111^th (20:28.11). Daniel Bohling of Weed was 125^th (21:03.18).

In the women’s 5,000, Lady Bear Joanna Beem was the top Siskiyou County runner in 18^th place (21:10.43), the fourth fastest time for NSCIF D-V this year. Yreka’s Carrie Turner was 24^th (21:16.68). Lady Lion Jilinda Franklin finished 37^th (22:05.56) out of 103 runners. (more…)