Eight-man football teams from Dunsmuir and Butte Valley were joined by Hayfork and Champion Christian for a scrimmage last Saturday in Dunsmuir. After the scrimmage, Siskiyou Youth asked Dunsmuir and Butte Valley coaches to assess their Teams. Although Happy Camp was unable to attend the scrimmage, Indian coach John Kufner also provided an abbreviated preview.

The 8-man teams open up play this Friday.

Butte Valley

Butte Valley head coach Jay Allen said that Jeremy Lopez impressed him in the scrimmage. He also said that he was impressed with his younger players, and that they are, “progressing quite nicely,” in particular Ben Field and Colton Struble.

“Ben Field is a young freshman who stepped in to start with the upperclassmen.  He did a spectacular job. Colten Struble is also a freshman that was impressive, however not as much of a surprise,” said Allen.
Allen said there wouldn’t be any major changes in Butte Valley’s offensive philosophy, only some adjustments to fit this season’s personnel. Defensively, the Bull Dogs will be switching up defensive fronts in hopes of making the offense adjust its game. Allen feels his steam’s greatest strength is their cohesiveness and leadership. Craig Holbrook will be assisting this season.

Asked about the team to beat in the 8-man league, Allen pointed to Hayfork and Big Valley<
Butte Valley kicks off the season at Champion Christian this Friday at 6:00 pm. Butte Valley was 6-6 last season, and Champion Christian went 10-2, losing to Westwood in the section championship game.

Dunsmuir

Dunsmuir coach Steve Van Ert summed up the scrimmage in just a couple of paragraphs:
“I feel the scrimmage went very well. We appreciate that Butte Valley, Hayfork, and Champion Christian came up for this event. Butte Valley looks pretty strong but has a lot of young players. Hayfork, while new to 8-man, has brilliant coaching and a very disciplined team. Their defensive backfield was strong and quick. We were able to penetrate their defense with our run attack. (Crash) Sordahl, (Nate) Gonzales, (Tiger) Mekeel were all successful with runs. (Lt) Hisey showed that he has matured and is destined to be a league leader as a QB. Champion Christian appears to be the team we will have to beat to win the division title. They are big, strong, disciplined and very well coached,” said Van Ert. ”We held Hayfork and Champion Christian from scoring all day. That will be devastating to our opponents as we are strong in both the run and pass games.”

Van Ert said that the team’s focus will be to be physically better prepared than its opponents, execute the fundamentals, make opportunities defensively, and have the best special teams squads in the division.

“We have great depth, a cohesive team, and an incredible desire to be the best,” said Van Ert.
Dunsmuir was 7-4 last year, and will start this season at home against Loyalton on Friday night at 8:00 pm. Loyalton finished 1-9 last season, with the only win coming via forfeit.

Happy Camp

Happy Camp Coach John Kufner hasn’t had much time with his team in the preseason, after suffering an illness most of the summer. He is, however, back to work coaching and teaching.

Kufner said that he’ll be relying heavily on his quarterback, Brent Boykin, and running back Kevin Harrison. As the start of the season nears, Kufner is still looking for a second running back, and a couple of seniors to step up, as well as hoping for help from his sophomores.

“We’re going to play. We are going to go hard, and see what happens,” said Kufner about the upcoming season.

Kufner, who will be assisted this year by Buster Attebery, believes that the teams to beat will be Hayfork, Big Valley, and Dunsmuir. He also said that Butte Valley and Champion Christian could be factors.

The Happy Camp Indians went 1-9 last season. The Indians will open up with undefeated, defending champion Westwood (12-0) in Dunsmuir this Friday at 6:00 pm.