Grizzlies kick Miners to the curb at Homecoming
The Lassen High Homecoming football game against the Yreka Miners was held Friday, Oct. 6 with temperatures nearing freezing and stands full of loyal fans.
Ultimately, the game was a 30-14 win for Lassen High, thus providing a marvelous start to the Homecoming festivities of the evening.
Prior to the game’s start, Lassen High introduced the 2017 Homecoming court.
This year’s Homecoming senior royalty included King Vince Martin, Queen Madee Cluck, Prince Jeremiah Chaffee, Princess Andrea Monath, Prince Dustin Morgan, Princess McKenna Jennings, Prince Jacob Bennett and Princess Rian Larimer.
The junior prince and princess were A.J. Fong and Bria Uribe. The sophomore prince and princess were Nate Gebauer and Kelsea Chedwick. The freshmen prince and princess were Zane Osborn and Abby Dunn.
Once the Homecoming court was recognized, the game was set to begin.
Yreka kicked off to Lassen to start the clock in the first quarter.
Cort Mason, left, gains as many yards as possible while Nicholas Molina keeps one Yreka defender at bay and another Yreka defender aims for Mason’s feet. Photo by Makenzie DavisThough the ball traveled many yards in either direction, no points were scored within the first quarter.
The second quarter more than made up for the lack of initial action, however, as the score reached 20-14, Lassen, by halftime.
Steven Cagle was first to alter the 0-0 tie with a one-yard rushing touchdown as the clock showed 8:06. A good PAT kick by Daniel Clemente brought the Grizzlies up to a seven-point lead.
With a cheer of the Lassen High School song “Loyal and True,” by the Grizzly cheerleaders and a kickoff to the Miners, the game was about to get interesting.
A time of 5:58 shone on the board and illuminated the field as the Miners completed a 15-yard pass for a touchdown and followed with a good PAT to tie the score 7-7.
Taken slightly aback by the audacity seen from the visiting team, the Grizzlies made quick work to score their next touchdown. Cagle was once again the Grizzly who crossed the line of the Miner end zone, this time completing a four-yard rushing touchdown with 4:03 on the clock.
Again, Clemente followed with a strong kick through the goal post; thus Lassen was again placed in the lead by seven points.
Yreka, up for the challenge, decided to try for another tie on the board. With Less than two minutes remaining of the first half, the Miners not only colonized on Grizzly territory, but they dared score a four-yard rushing touchdown and followed with a good PAT.
At this point, the Grizzlies were filled with nothing but rage. If only the Miners knew they were digging themselves a hole that they couldn’t get out of, perhaps the game would have continued in a more civilized manner.
Instead, however, Yreka had crossed a line, and the Grizzlies knew they had to take back what was rightfully theirs: The love and admiration of the hundreds surrounding the field.
With 13 seconds remaining until the halftime break, Cagle scored Lassen’s third touchdown via two-yard rush. Though the attempted PAT was a miss, the Grizzlies were still sitting pretty on a 20-14 score by the halftime bell.
Quarter three began with a Lassen kickoff to the visiting Miners.
Though the Miners had the offensive advantage, the Grizzly defense was not afraid to continue pushing the Miners closer and closer to their own end zone. With less than six minutes remaining of the quarter, the Grizzlies managed to push the Miners so far back into their territory that Lassen managed to score a safety to bump the score to 22-14, Grizzlies.
After a punt from the Miners, the Grizzlies were back in offensive possession with the ball. Once reunited with the ball, Lassen’s offense didn’t hesitate to storm Yreka’s territory yet again.
With 5:49 on the board, Dylan Lazard scored a seven-yard rushing touchdown to bring the Grizzlies up to 28 points.
After the touchdown, the Grizzlies attempted a two-point rush and Caleb Clements completed the conversion to bring Lassen up to their final point tally of 30.
Lassen nearly scored again during the third quarter as the Grizzlies entered Yreka’s 20 with less than a minute remaining on the clock. However, with luck, the Miners manage to hold the Grizzlies off until the bell rang to start quarter four.
The fourth quarter may have been used by the Miners as a final attempt at the win, but for the home team, it merely consisted of a cool down period spent keeping the pesky Miners off of Grizzly territory.
The final score of 30-14, Lassen, granted the purple and gold team their first win of conference.
