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CV busts it open
Falcons jump out early, sputter, finish
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SHASTA LAKE — Jimmy Kunkel could have chosen to pull Devin Howard's arms off.
Instead, Central Valley High School's pickup-sized tackle picked himself off the turf after a cheap shot from Howard, walked to the huddle and proceeded to help the Falcons kick in Yreka's teeth 35-18 Friday at Ron Hale Memorial Stadium.
That's the kind of maturity and leadership by example Central Valley's been looking for the past few years.
It's the kind of maturity that's apparently helped guide the Falcons, ranked third among Northern Section Division II clubs, to an unbeaten 6-0 mark thus far.
Ready or not Northern Athletic League, Central Valley is all grown up.
The Falcons dominated Friday's contest, owning most of the first half. Central Valley held the ball for 8 minutes, 40 seconds of the 12-minute first quarter.
CV's Brandon Piercy hit Tyler Naylor on a 10-yard out to open scoring and cap a 17-play, 83-yard Falcons opening drive that spanned 6:33.
The Falcons recovered an onside kick immediately after the score, but the drive fizzled at the Yreka 30. But, Central Valley's Ata Saechao picked off his first of two Joe Wilson passes.
"Our defensive backs stepped it up," Kunkel said. "In the beginning of the season we were having trouble with the deep pass."
Two plays after the pick, though, CJ Valdivia scampered 20 yards to put the Falcons up 15-0 with 1:22 to play in the first quarter.
CV forced a punt and recovered a fumble on its next two defensive stands — its third forced turnover in the first 14 minutes of the game.
It took the Falcons eight plays before Colton Silveria plowed into the end zone for his first of two CV scores.
"I was (pleased with where we were at) for about half the game," Central Valley coach Matt Hunsaker said. "And for the other half, I wasn't."
Up 22-0 with halftime in sight, the Falcons started to ease off the gas and the No. 5-ranked Miners (3-2) made them pay.
"It's hard, particularly with young guys," Hunsaker said. "You're up 22-0 and you're just slamming. It's a lot for young guys to stay in it, stay focused. They're getting better at it I think, they battled back."
Yreka started its comeback late in the second quarter when running back Manny Barragan broke loose down the sideline on a sweep and darted 61 yards for the first of his two scores.
Barragan fueled Yreka's comeback effort in the second half churning out 156 yards rushing. The Miners totaled 230 yards rushing, most of it coming in the second half. They also got a lot of extra chances from CV.
The Falcons turned the ball over twice in their first three plays of the half.
e_SDLqWe made some bonehead errors," Hunsaker said. "We had four turnovers in a situation where otherwise we're in complete control."
Central Valley still dominated the offensive line on offense, though. It paved the way for 330 yards total rushing.
Valdivia ran nine times for 55 yards. Teammate Matt Hubbard added 110 yards on five carries, most of it came off a scorching 90-yard scoring streak late in the third quarter that seemed to put the game away and end Yreka's upset threat. Silveria ran for 128 yards on 18 carries. He tore off a 51-yards scoring run in the fourth quarter.
"I'd much rather see it now," Hunsaker said of the second-half fade. "Against three of the next for teams, or against all four of them maybe, you're not going to be able to do that."
Reporter John Ryan can be reached at 225-8263 or jryan@redding.com.
Posted by Piiiiyyyaaaaa on October 11, 2008 at 2:01 p.m.
laugh out loud
Posted by my2cents on October 11, 2008 at 4:45 p.m.
do you really need to call out a high school kid for a cheap shot by name? if you do, i suggest you call them all out, not just pick and choose your times
Posted by Piiiiyyyaaaaa on October 11, 2008 at 7:49 p.m.
what are you talking about?
Posted by HornetFan on October 11, 2008 at 9:53 p.m.
Jimmy Kunkel is a STUD, and I am glad he reacted the way he did to the cheap shot if that in fact is what happened. He is a very nice young man and I hope he goes places after this season. He is the best lineman in our area in my opinion. Huge, strong, AND fast!
Nice way to open the league play CV. Congrats on your win!
Posted by sisquig on October 11, 2008 at 10:32 p.m.
Congratulations CV, you showed why you are considered one of the top teams in the section. As for John Ryan, his intro. into this game summary was nothing short of a third-string, third-rate piece of journalism. If you are mature enough to have a day job, don't quit it.
Posted by oc on October 11, 2008 at 10:55 p.m.
in response to sisquig
First, yes, congrats to CV. They played a good football game and took advantage of the numerous oppotunities they received. They are well coached and have good players...good people as well.
Having said that, however, Devin Howard is a great kid and not the "thug" he's been portrayed as. He had two personal fouls during the game...late hits. There were a number of personal fouls during the game by both teams. Devin is the kind of kid and player and teammate every coach in the NSCIF would love to have. He's our team captain. Hardworking every day. Goes to class and does well. He is respectful and is more than willing to help our younger players learn what we expect. Maybe his biggest mistake Friday night was that he cared about the outcome too much...maybe it was that he got too caught up in some of the pregame trash talking that goes on in this blog...I'm not sure, but I can guarantee you this...he did not go head hunting for any CV player, he made a poor decision away from the play. As for another player wanting to "pull his arms off"...I know the CV coaches don't coach their kids to "retaliate" like that...they coach them to play within the game. Did CV "kick in the teeth of Yreka"? They played well enough to win...but Yreka had seven turnovers...Yreka damaged their own teeth.
It's easy for people to sit behind their computers with their "secret" names and say things about high school boys...but, maybe we should all remember, they're high school boys. Calling Devin out by name, as the opening for the Record Searchlight's Game of the Week just doesn't seem right to me. How about the other boys who recieved personal fouls during the game? Why not their names? Why not write about the actual game...about how Yreka actually played pretty good defense all night, but that their seven turnovers constantly gave CV the opportunity to make the plays they needed to win the game? If Devin Howard was on a full-ride college scholarship or playing for pay on Sundays, then "call him out". But, really, for a late hit on a Friday night in a game that was hard fought from start to finish by players who showed respect to each other after the game and coaches who have always loved the competition but never at the sake of their friendships. Is that as good as we can do as a culture...tear down one individual and/or program to lift up another?
If that's the best we can do...shame on us...all of us.
Respectfully,
Orlyn Culp
Yreka Football
Posted by HornetFan on October 11, 2008 at 11:41 p.m.
Ummmm....Mr. Culp, who in this blog called your guy anything? Nobody said anything bad about your team on here that I can see. The only guy you have a legitimate beef with is the writer of the story. I don't think anyone from CV really talks any trash on here at all that I can remember.
Good luck the rest of your season.
Posted by redrum0376 on October 12, 2008 at 12:47 a.m.
Yreka plays a soft schedule an so does CV, I give credit to CV for winning the games. It will be a long league season..as usual for Yreka.They never play anyone in the non-league. CV is playing well...we will see where they finish in league. And did Yreka turn it over 7 times or did CV take it away 7 times...I guess that depends on what team you play on......Im sure that 99.9% of the kids that play for Yreka are good hard working kids, and I have the utmost respect for all those young men....Its there program that no one has a lot of respect for.
Posted by pigs_kin on October 12, 2008 at 9 a.m.
Mr. Culp you are way off base trashing the people in this blog. Rarely does anyone pick on, call out or name any one player negatively, usually they are building them up and giving them praise. The only one trash talking, without good cause in this blog is you. I think your issue is with the article and the editor that wrote it. I will get to see your kids on the field soon against a WV team that will really frustrate them. I hope and expect they will be as classy as you say because this team rarely gets personals called on them. good day
Posted by Carlile57 on October 12, 2008 at 11:27 a.m.
in response to oc
first of all i just think your bitter about the hour and half ride you had on the bus... i think the reason he "called him out" is because he was head hunting he took out our starting free safty ( i can get u the pic of it also, it was dirty) and if he was a good kid he would had helped them up not keep them down...
Posted by beeye424 on October 12, 2008 at 2:27 p.m.
This reminds me of the, "I'm a man! I'm 40!" lol
Posted by HornetFan on October 12, 2008 at 2:49 p.m.
Yeah...who was that? I think the guy was a coach in the Big 12 that said that!
Posted by beeye424 on October 12, 2008 at 7:52 p.m.
lol he was, that was pretty funny
Posted by yaahdaah39 on October 13, 2008 at 7:34 a.m.
in response to HornetFan
Oklahoma State Head Coach. Most people don't care about that anymore now that they are ranked number 8 in the country.
Posted by HornetFan on October 13, 2008 at 8:37 a.m.
Yeah but you have to admit it was funny when he did that...
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