Submitted article

Junior Pee Wees
It was a hot West Valley on Saturday, and “hot” would be the word to describe the Jr. Pee Wee contest between the West Valley Jr. Eagles and the Yreka Chargers. On the first play from scrimmage, QB Lane Clark had trouble handling the snap from center and a West Valley player took the ball out of his hands and scampered 40 yards for a quick score.

Yreka answered right back on the next possession with a 55-yard touchdown run by Clark, but had the play called back due to an illegal block in the back. On Yreka’s next offensive series, Clark hooked up with sure-handed receiver Roman Vulyak on a play action pass and Vulyak took it 50 yards to the house for a Yreka score. The “Clark to Vulyak” connection sent Yreka to halftime with a tie score.

Yreka came out strong defensively in the second half behind the play of Tyraye Bush, Jeremy Persing, Connor Lawe, Blake Shepard and several great plays by defensive end Hayz Story. Late in the third quarter, West Valley was able to find a crack in Yreka’s armor and scored on a 45-yard run play to put the Jr. Eagles on top. Yreka moved the ball well in the second half, but couldn’t find the end zone.
Coach Ron Quigley recognized the play of first-year players  Raymond Deas, Tyler Stark, Kage Hubbard, Brandon Wessel, Izaiah Martinez, Noah Dellett and Anthony Quintana.  Coach Quigley praised each of these players for their hard work and continued improvement.
Pee Wees
Despite a Charger loss, West Valley praised the Charger Pee Wees as being one of the toughest teams they’ve played to date.  Tyler Hockaday and Drew Robles played superior on both sides of the ball and Parker Sanders reached out to make two well caught interceptions. Tight end Blake Batchelor and wide receiver Josh Hansen again had receptions. Enoch Airhart made some excellent tackles, while Keith Belcher, Stevie Albers, Patrick Bigelow and Keith

Lipke continued to dominate defensively. Dylan O’Gorman showed his skills with some great blocking on offense and powerful footwork at kicker. Kaleb Perkins came to play, displaying eagerness much surpassing his size.
Final Score: Jr. Eagles 14, Chargers 6
Junior Midgets
The Yreka Chargers Jr. Midgets took on the West Valley Jr. Eagles (Division I) last Saturday in Cottonwood. It was a hard fought game for both teams, but the Jr. Eagles prevailed with a final score of 18-0.

Defensive leader, Dalton Dutra forced and recovered a turn over. Bradley Betts, Luke Hanst, Arsh Singh, Jovani Cabrera-Guevara and Tyler Frost stepped it up when they took the field both offensively and defensively giving our O-line and D-line much needed rest.
The offense was unable to produce any scoring as the Jr. Eagles defensive line made its way into the backfield.
Head Coach Erik Kloth said “It was really hot today and I don’t know how anything can live in this area besides rattlesnakes and lizards. Overall, the boys stayed tough despite the conditions and I look forward to re-grouping and getting back to practice this week to work on our weak areas”.
Midgets
The Yreka Charger Midgets lost another tough game Saturday to the D-1 West Valley Jr. Eagles. Yreka scored first on a Darricke McKeown scamper around left end with the kick for the extra point and brought the opening to an 8-0 lead. West Valley battled back with some key third down conversions. The Jr. Eagles missed the extra point leaving the Charger Midgets with a slim 8-6 lead.
Yreka maintained a 14-13 lead at halftime, with a hot 110+ day taking its toll on both teams. Yreka’s Jonny Braeger spent the second half under EMT care due to the heat.
Yreka scored midway through the third quarter on a nice run by McKeown. Blocking up front from Rudy Vincent, Kainen Krueger, Brandon Martinez, Arturo Villegas and David Sellens provided some nice running lanes. Wext Valley came back through the air again with third and long being Yreka’s nemesis. Trestin Kimbrell provided some tough running up the middle and several nice tackles from his linebacker position. West Valley completed a fourth-and-20 plus pass with just over two minutes left to take a 27-20 lead.  Yreka drove deep into W.V territory in the final minute but could not capitalize.
“All of the boys played a great game”, said Coach Todd Hedin.
Next game - Saturday, September 13 - Yreka at Home vs. Orland Aztecs