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Varsity beats back Spring Creek 34-24

Erich Sommer, Sierra Sun

The Truckee Wolverines varsity football team accomplished more than just their second win of the season with a 34-24 victory at Spring Creek on Friday night.

The Wolverines also washed away the sour taste of last year’s first-round playoff loss to the Spartans, and positioned themselves at the head of the pack for a return to the post season this year.

“Spring Creek was one of the teams to beat this year,” Head Coach Bob Schaffer said afterward. “And after last year, it’s nice to go out there and beat them at home.”



On Friday, for the second week in a row, the Wolverines took control in the second half, this time with scoring runs of 50 and 8 yards from wingback David Larson. Those runs stretched a precarious 13-10 halftime lead into a 27-10 game entering the fourth quarter.

The Wolverine ground game was the story of the evening, amassing 324 rushing yards and accounting for all five Wolverine touchdowns.



The Wolverines also got an efficient 9-14, 172-yard passing performance from junior quarterback Kevin Schlesinger to complement the Wolverine backfield’s big night.

“If you have one and don’t have the other, teams can defend against it,” Schaffer said of his offense’s ability to balance the run and the pass.

Schlesinger also had a 67-yard scamper in the first quarter that gave the Wolverines a 13-3 lead.

But miscues in the second quarter, including a dropped pass in the end zone by Evan Birchard just before halftime, had Schaffer a little worried at the break.

“We got inside their 20 twice in the second quarter, but didn’t score,” Schaffer said. “That always concerns me, but we came out in the second half and atoned for (the missed opportunities).”

The ground game was all the more impressive considering the injuries to the Wolverines offensive.

On Friday night, the Wolverines were missing three starters, including center Ryan Ochoa and both starting guards. Tight end Jason Ames filled in for Ochoa, despite having only two days of practice at the position.

“He did an excellent job,” Schaffer said.

With last week’s victory over Manogue, in which the Wolverines used three second half touchdowns by their defense to win their league opener, 21-9, Schaffer has reason to feel good about his team’s chances for the post-season.

“There are probably four or five teams that have a chance to win it all this year, and we have beat two of them. Being 2 and 0 in league is huge.”

Junior Varsity

On Friday, it was the JV Wolverines’ turn to supply the late game heroics, avenging last week’s last-second loss to Manogue by beating the Spring Creek JV squad 21-18.

Down 18-13 with four minutes left in the game, the Wolverines scored on a 37-yard run by Michael Hackley and followed with a successful two-point conversion.

“Our offensive line did an awesome job. We had 310 yards total offense and around 267 yards rushing,” said JV Head Coach Dow Higginbotham. “Defensively, we were able to keep them out of the end zone. They had 260 yards on offense, so we didn’t stop them, but we were able to keep them out of the end zone.”

It looked like the Spartans might hand the JV Wolverines their second straight last-second loss, but an interception by Wolverine defensive back Richard Home at the Truckee 10-yard line sealed the win.

Freshmen

The Truckee High School Freshman football team dropped their first game of the season last Thursday, falling to the Manogue Miners 43-27. The freshmen are 1-1.

Still, Coach Steve Ames was pleased with his offense, which kept the freshmen in a game that produced plenty of material for the highlight reel.

“I can’t say enough about our offense. They played good enough to win,” Ames said afterward. “The game was much closer than the score indicated. We gave up about four big plays, and that was the difference in the game.”

Ruben Martinez had close to 200 yards rushing, and scored two touchdowns, including a 98-yard run after Gordon Nenlands intercepted a pass deep in Wolverine territory.

Randon Nunez had 163 total yards.

Freshman quarterback Paul Tierney threw two touchdown passes, a 5-yard pass to Kevin Embertson and a 6-yard strike to Nunez.


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