Submitted article

Jr. Pee Wees
The Yreka Chargers Jr. Pee Wee football team lost a very close home game on Saturday, August 30 to the Foothill Jr. Cougars. During the second half; the fired up, hard hitting Charger defense of Charles Lopez, Jeremy Persing, Caden Corbin, Tyraye Bush and Dalton Lester, prevented the Jr. Cougars from scoring. The Charger defensive line of Payton Charlesworth, Dylan Quigley, Robert Giannini, and Hayz Lantz had some great gang tackles and one particularly impressive sack on the Jr. Cougars offense.

On the offensive side, Charger QB Tadd Weed completed two great passes to Lopez and Persing. Lane Clark made a great run scoring a touchdown for the Chargers. Clark , Weed and Virusur Lantz ran the ball well, but unfortunately the Cougar defense kept them just short of finding the end zone again.

Head Coach Ron Quigley was very proud of the way his boys played against the Jr. Cougars. Quigley stated that it was a great game and that the boys all played extremely well against a tough upper division team.

Pee Wees
The Charger Pee Wees gave their best effort against the top-rated, mighty Jr. Cougars on Saturday at Miner Field. Tyler Hockaday was a standout on both sides of the ball with his quick skills on offense and his powerful, fumble-causing tackles on defense. Also, bringing the heat to the Charger Pee Wee defense was the always tough, Keith Belcher, with several bone-crushing tackles of his own. Other leaders on defense were Marquis Pitts, Stevie Albers, Cooper Bruhns and Thomas Colla.

On offense, with the help of his offensive line, Devin Wells led the way for Charger scores with his outstanding blocking. QB Ryan Bridenstine opened up the field with two completed passes to Blake Batchelor and Josh Hansen. Drew Robles continued to amaze the crowd with his ability to score almost every time he seems to touch the ball. His favorite play of his career?  His first defensive touchdown against the Foothill Jr. Cougars.

“Overall, the kids came to play and they played well. Win or lose, they should hold their heads high. It was a great team effort,” said Coach Neil Bridenstine. The final score was Foothill 27 - Chargers 24

Midgets
The Charger Midgets lost a hard fought battle to a tough, physical Foothill Jr. Cougars team, 32-8. Yreka played the Jr. Cougars to an 8-8 tie in the first half, with Tyler Weale connecting with Derrick McKeown for the Chargers lone score.

Foothill began the second half with a long, time consuming drive using nearly eight minutes of the third quarter. The Chargers tried to make a comeback, but Foothill’s size and depth ultimately proved too much to overcome. Jonny Braeger and Nick Phillips played well defensively, with each providing some hard hits and several tackles.