DORRIS – The Butte Valley Bulldogs made a Homecoming meal out of the visiting Big Valley Cardinals on Friday night, with a 49-34 win. Bulldog Jeremy Lopez ran for nearly 250 yards—including TD sprints of 65, 46, and 45 yards. Lopez had six TDs in the game.

The Bulldogs enjoyed a 28-12 lead at the half, but Big Valley rallied to knot the contest at 28-28 by the end of the third quarter.

However, any ideas the Cardinals might have had about spoiling the Bulldog celebration were quickly crushed, as Butte Valley erupted for 21 straight points.

After the Cardinals tied the game with 1:12 left in the third quarter, they opted for an onside kick attempt. Butte Valley recovered the kick and set up shop at its own 38-yard-line.

Lopez went for three yards on first down. Colten Struble followed with a 13-yard burst to move the ball into Cardinal territory at the 46. Lopez ran the ball to the Cardinal 40-yard-line. Then, Nan Perez went 40-yards to pay dirt. The 2-point try failed, but the Bulldogs were up 34-28, with less than a minute gone in the fourth quarter.

The Bulldog defense forced a 3-and-out on the Cardinals’ next possession. After Big Valley’s punt, the Bulldogs went to work on the Cardinal 48. Lopez rushed for 35 yards on first down, but the play was negated by a holding penalty, moving the ball back to the Bulldog 42. Perez went for 25 yards on the next play, giving the Bulldogs a first down at the Cardinal 33.

A bad snap resulted in a loss of 12 yards on first down, back to the 45. The lost yardage only meant that Lopez was able add that many more yards to his rushing total, as he sprinted 45 yards for his fifth TD of the game on the next play. Lopez also ran for the 2-point conversion, upping the Bulldogs’ advantage to 42-28, with 8:44 to go in the final frame.

Big Valley moved into the Bulldogs side of the field on its next drive, but turned the ball over on downs at the 40. The first two Bulldog running plays resulted in zero yards. The next one, a Lopez run, picked up 59 yards to the Cardinal 1-yard-line. Lopez took it the remaining yard to make the score 48-28. Gustavo Lopez added the PAT, and the lead was 21 points, 49-28, with 3:27 left to play.

Big Valley added six points on a 20-yard pass with 45 seconds left on the clock, leading to a final score of Bulldogs 49 – Cardinals 34.

With the win, the Bulldogs remain undefeated at 4-0 overall, and 1-0 in the North Division of the California 8-man league. Butte Valley travels to Happy Camp (1-4, 0-1) on Friday, October 16 to take on the Indians. Happy Camp lost its last game to Liberty Christian (5-0, 1-0) on Thursday, 31-28.