Submitted article

Big Valley may have come to Dunsmuir expecting to easily hand the Tigers their first loss of the season. When the Tigers fumbled on their own 30-yard-line, and Big Valley scored three plays later, it looked like it was going to be a long night for Dunsmuir.

But the Tigers moved the ball down the field and Nate Gonzales scored on a 2-yard keeper. The 2-point conversion was denied.

Dunsmuir stuffed the Cardinals at their own 30-yard- line on the kick off, and held the Cardinals to a three-and-out. DHS senior Cory Knowles took the BV punt back 28 yards but a penalty kept it to a gain of only 18. Gonzales had his apparent second TD called back due to a penalty. The Tigers then turned over the ball on downs.

The Tigers defense picked up a Cardinals fumble but the Tigers were unable to move the ball. BV wasted no time in scoring with a 65-yard pass. The 2-point conversion was no good. With 2:00 min remaining in the first quarter, it was Big Valley leading 14-6.

Dunsmuir thought they answered back when Gonzales ran 61 yards for another TD, but the play was called back on a holding penalty.

Both teams tuned the ball over on downs. With 9:50 on the clock, Gonzales went 41 yards on a QB keeper, but was denied the 2-point conversion, making it 14-12.

On their next possession, the Cardinals’ pass attack was shut down and they turned over the ball on downs.

When the Tigers got the ball back, it appeared that Gonzales would have a big gain, only to fumble on the 25-yard-line.

The half ended with BV leading 14-12

Big Valley took the second half kickoff at their 17-yard-line and moved to the Tigers 40 on the first play, but the Tiger defense shut them down on the 18.

The Tiger’s offense was spectacular on the next series, with Cory Knowles busting a 45-yard run to put the Tigers up 18 to 14. Gonzales’ 2-point try was denied.

The ensuing drive by BV was capped by a huge hit from Erin Kirch. Penalties hurt the Tigers defense, but BV was forced to punt. The punt was tipped and the Tigers took over on the BV 35-yard-line.

However, Gonzales lost the ball, and BV took over on the Dunsmuir 45. John Zackery was the BV standout for the night as he once again ran to the outside to get to the 30-yard-line. Nate Gonzales, however, answered for the Tiger defense by picking off a Cardinal pass.

The Tigers entered the fourth quarter with the offense in control until Knowles, just 30 yards away from scoring, fumbled.

BV was on the 40 and headed the other way until being shut down on a fourth-and-5 attempt.

It was Knowles and Sordahl leading the offense back down the field to the BV 4-yard-line, where Kirch ran it in for 6 more points. The 2 pt try appeared to be good, only to be called back on a penalty. With 3:24 remaining, the score was 24-14.

The Cardinals were not giving up and with only one time out remaining they took 1:28 to score once again. It was Gonzales who denied BV’s Zackery the 2-pointer.

BV attempted an on-side kick with no luck. The Tigers started on their own 33-yard-line, but the Cardinals’ defense shut down the Tigers.

With just 25 seconds remaining in the game, the Cardinals were on Dunsmuir’s 40, trailing by only four points. Their next run, to the outside, was shut down but they managed to get out of bounds to stop the clock. The Cardinals were able to get off two more plays, but the Tigers held on for their fourth straight win.

Coaches thoughts:

This was a tough win. The Cardinals are a strong team with an experienced, aggressive coaching staff and many tough players. We should have denied them two of their scores and put up two more scores ourselves. There are a few things that, as coaches, I believe we have learned this week. I think the players have also found out some very important aspects of their game; I think they believe in themselves as they have worked hard and stay determined. I am confident that next week will be a much different game.

It appeared that the Tiger defense started out slow; most likely due to me trying to utilize a defensive scheme that they weren’t quite ready for yet. I don’t know why we had so many penalties or turnovers—that was very uncharacteristic of our athletes. But the guys stepped up their efforts and never let down. Gonzales, Knowles and Sordahl kept grinding out yards, while Kirch, Silver, and M. Norton kept denying the Cardinals scoring opportunities. It was a whole team effort to keep the game within reach. The offensive line stayed strong as did the defense.

As we head to Loyalton on Saturday I know we will be ready to dominate on both sides of the ball. Coach Young has devised an unstoppable offense.  I look to putting the ball in the air more often, taking advantage of the smart playing by LT Hisey and steady hands of Zach Shirley. Our running, led by the incredibly fast Corey Knowles, the QB skills of Nate Gonzales supported by the powerhouse running of Colton “Crash” Sordahl will leave teams wondering what to do.

On Defense, Our line is fast and strong: Barry Norton, Josh Silver, Justin Shuler and John Teran are among the leaders in the division in sacks and tackles. Our secondary (Matt Norton, LT Hisey and Zach Bartoo) will continue to deny any passing, while Erin Kirch continues to absolutely punish the opponents. But the great advantage we have is that every position has strong players to back them up. Guys like Joey Rhyno, Jamison McIntyre, Brandon Iskra, Jacob Mekeel, Jay Rhodes, Dan Balliard, Cito De Los Santos and John Pedro are playing many roles and are always ready to step in!

Some of this week’s leaders were:

Knowles- 117yds rushing, 1 TD

Gonzales-107 combined yards, 1 interception , 2 TDs

Sordahl-140yds rushing

Kirch-18 tackles, 1 sack, 1 TD

B. Norton-2 sacks, 1 fumble recovered