WEED – The Weed Cougars and Etna Lions will go at it tooth and nail again later in the season, but for now, the Lions have top cat bragging rights in Siskiyou County. Etna downed Weed 40-26 on opening night of the 2010 high school football season on Friday.

The two teams were picked in a preseason coaches’ poll to finish in the bottom half of the Shasta Cascade League this season. However, both squads served notice that they can put up points in a hurry, and won’t be anyone’s doormat.

Etna was first on the board with a 5-yard touchdown scamper by Robbie Munson. The zebras provided a bit of comic relief on the point after attempt. The attempt appeared to go slightly wide right, but the lone official under the goal posts promptly went to retrieve the ball with no signal given. It appeared that none of the officials actually saw if the kick was good or not. After a high level conference, it was ruled no good, leaving Etna with a 6-0 advantage four minutes into the first quarter.

Less than a minute later it appeared that Weed had knotted the score on a 46-yard TD pass, but the score was negated by a offensive pass interference call. However, the Cougars struck with 20 seconds remaining in the first quarter on a 2-yard rumble up the middle by MyKeil White, making the score 6-6. The 2-point conversion failed.

Etna’s Max Detrick returned Weed’s kickoff to the Cougar 15-yard-line. Munson took it the rest of the way, giving the Lions a 12-6 lead as time expired in the quarter. The PAT was no good.

Weed quickly answered. Keyed by a 45-yard pass from Jake West to Liam Hagarty, and a 14-yard run by White, the Cougars moved from their own 38 to a half yard from pay dirt. The next play was a hand off to White, who never had the handle in the backfield and the ball shot forward into the end zone, where it was recovered by Etna. But, an official ruled that White had crossed the plane of the goal before losing the ball, and awarded the Cougars the TD. (Readers can view the video above and make their own determination). West hit Cody Beam for the 2-point conversion, giving the Cougars a 14-12 lead. Weed would take that lead into halftime.

After Etna’s second half kickoff, Weed set up shop on its own 25. One play later, Munson recovered a Cougar fumble, giving the Lions possession on the Weed 22-yard-line.

One more play was all it took for Etna to regain the lead, when Eric Freckman hit Travis Parry with a 22-yard TD pass. Freckman and Parry teamed up again for a 2-point conversion, making it Etna 20 – Weed 14, with less than 30 seconds gone in the second half.

The Cougars struck back even faster. Weed started its next possession on its own 31. On the first play, West connected with Cody Beam for a 69-yard TD. The 2-point conversion attempt failed, leaving the combatants deadlocked at 20-20, with 11:11 on the clock.

Etna went 63 yards in just over five minutes on its next drive, capped by a 20-yard Freckman to Parry TD pass. The 2-point try was no good, but the Lions had the lead 26-20—a lead they would not surrender.

With about five minutes gone in the fourth quarter, Nick Hansen picked off a Cougar pass and went 65 yards for a TD, making it 32-20. The 2-point try…failed.

Down, but not yet out, the Cougars scored on a 9-yard West to Beam pass, cutting the deficit to 32-26, with 5:30 to play.

Colby Rimmer returned the Weed kickoff 37 yards to the Cougar 43, where the Lions went to work on a 57-yard scoring drive. Freckman took it the final two yards, upping the Etna advantage to 38-26. Freckman tossed to Andy Nadig, who was all alone sipping a cup of tea in the end zone, for a 2-point conversion, making the final score of the game 40-26.

Freckman picked off a Cougar pass with 2:37 left, and the Lions ran out the clock for the victory.

Etna (1-0) hosts Hoopa Valley (0-0) next Friday.

Weed (0-1) hosts University Prep (0-0) on Friday.