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Truckee hammers South Tahoe for Sierra Bowl victory

Bill Rozak
Tahoe Daily Tribune
Truckee players celebrate after defending the Sierra Bowl trophy.
Courtesy of Hans Baumann / Abdiver Photography

Truckee’s football team closed out the regular season on the road last Friday night, competing in the annual Sierra Bowl against South Tahoe.

The Wolverines took a 60-12 win against the Vikings for a third consecutive victory in the rivalry between the teams.

Seniors Derek Laferriere and Kevin Malo led Truckee with two touchdowns each and a combined 175 rushing yards.



Seniors Marcus Bellon, Jackson Skaff, and junior Tyler Estabrook all found the end zone for rushing touchdowns as the Wolverines closed the year with an 8-1 record.

Leading up to the game, South Tahoe senior Kody Griffis put off thinking about it being the final week. In the game’s final moments with a running clock, he tried to get the offensive play calls from the sideline as fast as possible, trying to milk an extra play or two before the final seconds vanished in his high school career.



“I just don’t want it to end,” said Griffis, who finished his amazing season with 78 receptions for 1,112 yards and 13 touchdowns. He has twice the amount of receptions than any other receiver in the 3A Northern League.

Senior center Paolo Torres is the biggest and one of the strongest Vikings, but he was emotional during the pre-game senior night ceremony and postgame he was proud of his team.

“I thought we played our butts off, they are a great team,” Torres said. “We did everything we could. They deserved it. But I’m happy with the way we left it out there. I enjoyed every last bit of it. I’m just sad with it being over.”

On the Wolverines’ side, senior Drew Wingard led another outstanding defensive effort, finishing the evening with 21 tackles (15 solo), including a sack. Senior Marcus Trotter finished his night with two sacks and now has 5.5 on the season.

The Vikings finished the season 1-9 overall and 1-8 in the Northern League.

“What a resilient group, I’m gonna look back very positively on these boys,” Vikings Head Coach Louis Franklin said. “They will be successful men as they grow older and that will only benefit this community. It’s a good group of kiddos. We grew a lot, I wish we had some more games with them because they are definitely getting better.”

Truckee will enjoy a bye week as the No. 2 seed in the Northern League.

The Wolverines will await the winner of Elko (6-3 Northern League) and Lowry (4-5 Northern League) with a trip to state on the line. The game is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 3, at Surprise Stadium.

Justin Scacco contributed to this report. Contact him at jscacco@sierrasun.com.


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