The Truckee Wolverines of the Sierra Youth Football League Bandit Division opened and closed their first game played at home strongly. But unfortunately, the Dayton Dust Devils used the second and third quarters to twist up the Truckee 5- to 7-year-olds with a 38-0 loss at River View Sports Park this past Saturday.

Truckee quarterback Tavin Hamilton opened the game with the team’s longest run of the year on the second play. Hamilton ran between the right guard and tackle and through the heart of the Dust Devils defense for a 56-yard run. Hamilton was tripped from behind and called down at the 2-yard line despite one of the two referees signaling a touchdown.

The Wolverines fumbled and lost the ball on a pitch to running back Ronan Collins on the next play and never got past the 50-yard line the rest of the game. The Dust Devils tightened up their defense and allowed the Wolverines a total of 20 yards gained.

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Several of the Dayton defenders anticipated the snap count and busted through the line of scrimmage untouched and disrupted the hand-off on more than one occasion. On the last play of the first half an untouched defender tackled Hamilton awkwardly on a boot leg to the right, sidelining Hamilton with a sprained knee.

Truckee’s defense was led by defensive lineman Aidan Powers and defensive ends Sean McMullen and Ezra Scharp. All three turned in personal-best performances with four tackles each. McMullen also turned in two sacks, and Powers got one.

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Another defensive highlight came when linebacker Holden Woodruff stretched up high and pulled down a Dust Devil pass for an interception at Truckee’s 16-yard line. This kept Dayton’s third-highest scoring offense in the league out of the end zone minutes before the half ended.

The Wolverines gang tackled all game long, but Dayton managed to find the end zone. The Dust Devils offense capped a 91-yard drive with a 42-yard touchdown scamper for the only score in the first quarter. Dayton then added a 19-yard touchdown run and a 35-yard punt return TD for a 19-0 lead at halftime.

Dayton wreaked havoc in the third quarter, starting with a 80-yard TD return on the opening kickoff. The Wolverines defense did manage to calm the storm of the third quarter and closed the game strong and kept the Dust Devils out of the end zone the entire fourth quarter.

and#8212; This article was submitted to Sports Editor Sylas Wright at swright@sierrasun.com.