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PREP FOOTBALL: Bear River rallies late, tops Truckee

Brian Shepard
Special to The Union

BRUINS 21 WOLVERINES 7

FIRST QUARTER

BR: Tre Maronic 2-yard run (XP blocked) 5:02

THIRD QUARTER 

T: Tyler Estabrook 70-yard run (Deacon Mehler kick)  4:44

FOURTH QUARTER

BR: Maronic 1-yard run (2-point try good, Colton Jenkins pass to Gavin Jackson) 9:32

BR: Maronic 2-yard run (Jaime Vargas kick) 6:11

GRASS VALLEY — A gritty Bear River football team took to the gridiron Friday night in its season opener at J. David Ramsey Stadium and roared down the stretch with 15 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to seal a 21-7 victory over Truckee.

“All wins are pretty,” said Bruins co-head coach Terry Logue, whose squad trailed 7-6 after surrendering a 70-yard touchdown run in the third quarter. “Whether they’re ugly or not, they’re pretty wins. I’m just really proud of our team. At the darkest moment, when things looked the darkest we turned the switch and we did what we needed to do.”

Bear River held a 6-0 edge at the half after a 2-yard plunge by starting senior quarterback Tre Maronic to cap off a 14-play, 51-yard drive in the first quarter.



The Bruin defense held its ground much of the night with the exception of the one big third-quarter touchdown run by Truckee’s Tyler Estabrook.

“We started going down with cramps and some rollled ankles, some of this, some of that, but the thing I’m most impressed with is how everybody just stood up,” said Maronic, who split defenders and grinded for a trio of rushing touchdowns from 2-yards, 1-yard and 2-yards out respectively. He finished with 24 carries for 85 yards and three touchdowns, and was 4-of-8 passing for 38 yards. “(Our team) stood their ground and kept pushing. And, we got those 14 points back to back. I’m really proud of how we all fired back.”



Bruins junior defensive end Warren Davis wreaked havoc on the Wolverines offense, wrapping up multiple sacks for a combined loss of 20-plus yards and pounced on two fumbles. Davis’ second fumble recovery in the fourth quarter gave Bear River prime field position at the Truckee 17.

Five plays later it was Maronic busting through the trenches to put the Bruins back on top for good. Senior Colton Jenkins hooked up with Gavin Jackson for the 2-point conversion to give Bear River a 14-7 advantage.

Maronic also helped out on the defensive side of the ball, securing a fumble and nabbing an interception. Senior Zach Fink added a monster sack of his own for a loss of 13 yards to keep the Wolverines on their heels.

“Yeah I saw a lot of good things out there tonight,” added Bear River co-head coach Scott Savoie. “Both teams made their share of mistakes, both fumbled in the red zone. It’s very obvious that Truckee High School is used to winning and they battled, and our kids battled. Luckily we got it done when we needed to down the road there. That 14 point swing at the end was unbelievable. My stomach was upside down for awhile.”

Truckee got the ball back with about 9 minutes to play and the Bear River defense dug deep and applied pressure to force an errant punt. The Bruins took over at the Wolverines 26, and again, five plays later Maronic delivered a touchdown to extend his team’s lead to 21-7.

Mixing up the looks offensively from the backfield to help carry the load, Jenkins finished the night with 14 carries for 38 yards and hauled in three catches for 24 yards. Sophomore fullback Ryder Kiggins also got some solid reps, tallying eight carries for 32 yards and grabbed one reception, a screen pass, and rumbled for 14 yards and a first down.

Defensively, the Bruins held the Wolverines to just 78 yards rushing on 28 attempts, including 15 runs netting zero or a loss. Truckee finished 6-of-11 passing for 71 yards with an interception.

Bear River (1-0) hits the road next week to take on El Dorado. Truckee (0-1) travels to Fernley.

JV:BEAR RIVER 25, TRUCKEE 6

The Bruins junior varsity squad dominated from start to finish, pounding the ball up the gut for four rushing touchdowns.

Anders Torgerson plowed in for two scores. Nick Williams powered in as well. And, Joey Knox busted one loose for a 60-plus yards on his way to paydirt.

Brian Shepard is a freelance sports writer who contributes to The Union regularly.


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