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Jr. PeeWees
The Yreka Chargers Jr. Pee Wees lost another close game on Saturday to the visiting Orland Aztecs, 3-1. The Aztecs, behind their big (and fast) running back, jumped out to a 2-1 first half lead. Yreka’s lone first half score was set up by a 40-yard run by Lane Clark, which put Yreka inside the Orland 5 yard line. Three plays later Clark, with the help of blocks from Virusur Lantz, Tadd Weed and the right side of the Yreka line, was able to find the end zone. Y-Town couldn’t find the end zone in the second half, due in large part to a stingy Orland defense.

PeeWees
Can you say defense? At home on Saturday at Miner Field, the mighty Chargers PeeWee defense showed Orland no mercy. In a nail-biting, heart-pounding finish, the Chargers were forced to show their strength in the final seconds of the game at the goal line with Orland having the ball. Orland tried for three straight downs to push the ball over the goal line, but the wall of the Charger PeeWees’ defense which included Drew Robles, Tyler Hockaday, Stevie Albers, Marquis Pitts, Parker Sanders, Aaron Durney, Cooper Bruhns, Keith Lipke, Scott Hopper, Gar Weed and Thomas Colla, grabbed on and pushed harder, leaving Orland unable to score.

In other key plays of the game, QB Ryan Bridenstine had several completed passes including two to Tyler Hockaday and one to Cade Downey. He threw a bomb to Dylan O’Gorman but it was called back for holding; never the less, it was still a nice catch with a run that almost saw the end zone. Josh Hansen had a 30 yard catch on a third-and-long on the home side of the field for all the fans to see. Hansen’s catch helped set the pace for Tyler Hockaday to take it up the middle, bouncing it to the outside for the only score of the game. Marquis Pitts came out hitting so hard he knocked out his two front teeth and Keith Belcher was taken down by the zebras, but still managed to come back strong.  Parker Jones had a great tackle on the home side and Kaleb Perkins piled it on to bring down the Orland offense. Enoch Airhart and Christian Martinez showed some great defensive skills. There was also great blocking from Zachary Woodruff, Melkay Cisneros, Devin Wells and, not to mention, the “tough as nails” Tyler Wagy, who controlled the snap of the ball and maintained his blocks all day. Aaron Durney added to his season total, with yet another interception. Final score: Chargers 6, Orland 0.

Jr. Midgets
The Yreka Charger Jr. Midget Football team started its regular season at home by taking on the Orland Aztecs. The Chargers came out fired up and ready to defend their home turf.

The first half of the game started with Orland kicking off to Jacob Maphet who returned the ball 43 yards to Orland’s 30-yard-line. The Chargers had several sustained drives in the first quarter and despite good field position were unable to capitalize. The game remained scoreless until the second quarter when offensive coordinator, Rob Walton, put together a series of plays culminating in Maphet rushing 7 yards for a touchdown. The teams entered the half 6-0.

After the half, the Chargers offense which included QB Kaden Culp, Casey “Goose” Gusaas, Maphet and Thomas Bigelow kept the Aztec Defense on their heels. Bradley Betts, who filled in for an injured Jacob Golden, along with fellow offensive linemen Will Pipkin, Quaid Blanchard, Zachary Hazelton, and Ryan Keck improved leaps and bounds over last week and gave the backfield good protection throughout the game. The highlight of the game was John Crane at DE who was in the backfield all day disrupting the Aztecs plays. The rest of the defense played mistake free football and held the Aztecs scoreless. Both the Aztecs and Chargers played an excellent game, but in the end the Chargers prevailed with a steel curtain defense for their first shutout of the season.

Head Coach Erik Kloth said, “We played as a team and we won as a team. It feels good to be 1-0 in league play. My coaches Phil Christy, Rob Walton, Bruce Golden and Todd Gusaas all did outstanding jobs this week at practice to prepare this team. It was great to see the PeeWees and Midgets also win their league openers. The home fans were great, the weather was terrific and the announcing was fun.”

Midgets
The Yreka Midgets opened league play at home last Saturday with a 28-6 win over the Orland Aztecs. Yreka scored first on a Darricke McKeown 95 yard scamper. Nathan Marchetti paved the way with two excellent downfield blocks to spring McKeown. The Charger defense effectively shut down the Orland offense all day with James Bridenstine recovering two fumbles. On Yreka’s third possession, Marchetti took a handoff up the middle and turned it into a 37 yard rumble to pay dirt.  After another defensive stand, Yreka drove downfield with McKeown finding the end zone for the second time. The stingy Charger defense held Orland again with solid tackles coming from Jason Lewis and good pass coverage from Tyler Weale. McKeown provided some solid hits from his safety position. Yreka’s next possession saw Nick Phillips deliver some powerful running from his tailback spot. Phillips also found pay dirt, taking a pitch around the left end and running over a couple of would be Orland tackles. Yreka led 28-0 at halftime.

The second half saw all the Chargers in on the action.  Jacob Dunlap, Trevor Fisher & Spencer Bruhns all made nice defensive plays. Fred Matheny was flying around and had a crunching hit on an Orland ball carrier. Craig Higgs, Michael Lawe & Ricky Silva helped hold Orland scoreless until late in the fourth quarter, with Orland scoring late for a 28-6 final.

The Chargers travel to Anderson this Saturday, to play the Wildcats.