YREKA – The Yreka Miner junior varsity football team capitalized on a North Valley turnover in the first quarter, and never looked back on the way to a 36-21 homecoming victory.

The North Valley Knights drove into Miner territory on their first possession, but put the ball on the ground. Travis Sutter recovered it for Yreka, and the Miners were in business.

Yreka drove 70 yards to pay dirt, with Jaret Callender smashing through the Knight defense from a yard out for the touchdown. Trevor Daugherty added the PAT, giving Yreka a 7-0 lead with 1:20 left in the first quarter.

The Miners struck again with 3:00 gone in the second quarter. This time it was Callender from 11 yards out, behind a block by John Durney. With the Daugherty PAT, it was 14-0 Miners.

North Valley got on the board with 2:55 to play in the half via a 60-yard TD run and PAT, to make the score 14-7.

A strong return by Miner Roderick Tinsley on the ensuing kickoff gave Yreka excellent field position on its own 43-yad-line. Yreka quickly moved to the Knight 45. Then, quarterback Dean Schafer connected with Daugherty for a 45 TD, with Daugherty dragging a defender from just inside the 10 all the way to the goal line. Schafer passed to Durney for a 2-point conversion, off of a fake extra point kick, upping the Miner advantage to 22-7 with 1:36 left in the half.

Yreka had the ball first in the second half. Starting from their 31, the Miners drove 69 yards, capped by a 5-yard run by Schafer. The big gainer on the drive was a 50-yard pass play, Schafer to Jeremy Cox. Yreka added the PAT, and led 29-7 with just under seven minutes left in the third quarter.

North Valley scored with 2:38 to go in the third quarter on a 9-yard pass. The PAT failed, leaving Yreka with a 29-13 lead.

The Miners answered with 15 seconds to go in the quarter on a 1-yard TD run by Tim Maphet, and PAT by Daugherty, pushing Yreka’s lead to 23 points, 36-13.

The Knights added a too-little-too-late TD midway through the fourth quarter, to make the final 36-21.