WEED – The Tulelake Honkers junior varsity football team put up 26 points in the first half against the Weed Cougar JVs and then cruised to victory, on Friday night.

As he would do throughout the game, Tulelake’s Gonzalo Lujano boomed the opening kickoff into the end zone. Weed started its first possession on the 20-yard-line and quickly turned the ball over to the Honkers, when Lujano picked off a pass.

Following the interception, Tulelake set up shop at the Weed 26-yard-line. Nine-yard and 4-yard runs by Jose Jaime set up a 13-yard TD burst by Danny Banderas, staking the Honkers to a 6-0 lead. Quarterback Zach Idrogo rushed for the 2-point conversion, making it 8-0, with 8:23 left in the first quarter.

Weed fumbled on its next possession and Honker Mike McEllmurry pounced on the loose ball. One play later, Banderas went 28 yards for a touchdown. The two point conversion failed, and Tulelake led 14-0 halfway through the first quarter.

The Cougars were unable to move the ball on their next possession and were forced to punt. Lujano returned the punt 31 yards to the Weed 8-yard-line. However, it was the Honkers turn to cough up the ball and Weed’s Luke Hart recovered at the 8-yard-line.

Weed was again forced to punt from deep in its own end, giving Tulelake excellent field position on the Weed 37-yard-line. On the first play of the drive, Lujano speed 37 yards to up the Honker lead to 20-0 with half a minute to play in the opening quarter. The 2-point try failed.

Tulelake started its next possession at the Weed 38-yard-line. The Honkers covered the distance on a pass play from Idrogo to Jaime, upping the Tulelake advantage to 26-0, with 3:32 to go in the first half. The 2-point try was no good.

The Honkers were on the move again with less than a minute to play in the half, but Cougar Aaron Peruzzi picked off a pass.

Tulelake started their first drive of the second half on its own 47-yard-line, and marched to the Cougar three-yard-line. However, the scoring threat was thwarted, when Noah Traylor picked off a pass in the end zone for the Cougars.

Weed’s best chance to score came in the fourth quarter, when they moved to the Honker 4-yard-line. However, the Cougars turned the ball over on downs, when they were unable to convert on fourth-and four.

Tulelake moved inside the Weed 10-yard-line late in the fourth quarter, but chose to take a knee to run out the clock, leaving the final score 26-0.