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ENLARGE
One minute and 19 seconds into the game, the Miners made a statement.
It said: this is our house, these are our fans, and this is our game.
Kyle Cota connected with Jake Hofheinz for a 26-yard touchdown, and Nevada Union began the sprint to a 47-0 victory over the visiting Ponderosa Bruins.
“This is a team that works hard,” said head coach Dave Humphers of his squad. “They want to win, and I thought they showed that out there tonight.”
After holding McQueen to just one score last week, the Miners' defense bested themselves, shutting out Ponderosa, a team that has yet to score a point this season.
The Bruins threatened only once.
With less than three minutes left to play, Ponderosa made it down to the Nevada Union 2-yard line.
On first and goal, the Miners sacked the quarterback for a loss of five, but after second down, Ponderosa would no longer even have the ball.
Senior lineman Pat Chapple attacked the ball, knocking it loose from the Bruins rusher. Nate Dickinson pounced on it on the 4-yard line and held on for dear life.
It would be the last time Ponderosa would touch the ball.
After recovering the fumble, Nevada Union put together a five-play drive, aided by Bruins penalties, and capped it off with a 14-yard touchdown run by running back Josiah Paye.
There was still 1:06 left on the game clock, but with the score 41-0 by the start of the fourth quarter, the referees had long since announced that the time would just keep ticking away.
The clock would reach zero before Nevada Union kicked the ball away, and the Miners (2-0) walked off field with a convincing win.
“I think it's difficult to get a shutout on any level,” said Humphers. “It was a super defensive effort. I was happy for Josiah to have a terrific game and get that last score, and Cota threw very well.”
On top of the zero put up by the Miners' defense, which got help from a Tanner Vallejo interception, the offense came together for more than 500 total yards — nearly 350 on the ground and more than 150 through the air.
In addition to Paye's touchdown and 85 yards, the rushing game was led by Gabe Humphers and Connor Keith.
Gabe Humphers finished the game with more than 140 yards on seven carries, including a 72-yard run from scrimmage for a touchdown on the first play of the second quarter.
Keith, who also had a reception in the game, finished with more than 50 yards and three rushing touchdowns.
Dickinson, Tyler Houlihan and Ian Davis had carries for the Miners. Davis also got in on the passing game with a 23-yard reception, one of 10 completions by Cota.
Hofheinz finished with five catches for nearly 100 yards and two touchdowns, both in the first quarter, and Conner Fuller had two catches for 27 total yards.
Seven of Cota 10 completions were for more than 10 yards, including three of more than 20.
Despite the lopsided victory, Humphers was guarded about his players' performance, saying that there are things they did really well and some things will need work.
“There are some glaring areas for improvement,” he said. “We're going to look at the film, look at those areas and try to fix them. But I was happy with a lot of what I saw.”
The junior varsity Miners played before the varsity game and defeated Ponderosa 26-6.
It said: this is our house, these are our fans, and this is our game.
Kyle Cota connected with Jake Hofheinz for a 26-yard touchdown, and Nevada Union began the sprint to a 47-0 victory over the visiting Ponderosa Bruins.
“This is a team that works hard,” said head coach Dave Humphers of his squad. “They want to win, and I thought they showed that out there tonight.”
After holding McQueen to just one score last week, the Miners' defense bested themselves, shutting out Ponderosa, a team that has yet to score a point this season.
The Bruins threatened only once.
With less than three minutes left to play, Ponderosa made it down to the Nevada Union 2-yard line.
On first and goal, the Miners sacked the quarterback for a loss of five, but after second down, Ponderosa would no longer even have the ball.
Senior lineman Pat Chapple attacked the ball, knocking it loose from the Bruins rusher. Nate Dickinson pounced on it on the 4-yard line and held on for dear life.
It would be the last time Ponderosa would touch the ball.
After recovering the fumble, Nevada Union put together a five-play drive, aided by Bruins penalties, and capped it off with a 14-yard touchdown run by running back Josiah Paye.
There was still 1:06 left on the game clock, but with the score 41-0 by the start of the fourth quarter, the referees had long since announced that the time would just keep ticking away.
The clock would reach zero before Nevada Union kicked the ball away, and the Miners (2-0) walked off field with a convincing win.
“I think it's difficult to get a shutout on any level,” said Humphers. “It was a super defensive effort. I was happy for Josiah to have a terrific game and get that last score, and Cota threw very well.”
On top of the zero put up by the Miners' defense, which got help from a Tanner Vallejo interception, the offense came together for more than 500 total yards — nearly 350 on the ground and more than 150 through the air.
In addition to Paye's touchdown and 85 yards, the rushing game was led by Gabe Humphers and Connor Keith.
Gabe Humphers finished the game with more than 140 yards on seven carries, including a 72-yard run from scrimmage for a touchdown on the first play of the second quarter.
Keith, who also had a reception in the game, finished with more than 50 yards and three rushing touchdowns.
Dickinson, Tyler Houlihan and Ian Davis had carries for the Miners. Davis also got in on the passing game with a 23-yard reception, one of 10 completions by Cota.
Hofheinz finished with five catches for nearly 100 yards and two touchdowns, both in the first quarter, and Conner Fuller had two catches for 27 total yards.
Seven of Cota 10 completions were for more than 10 yards, including three of more than 20.
Despite the lopsided victory, Humphers was guarded about his players' performance, saying that there are things they did really well and some things will need work.
“There are some glaring areas for improvement,” he said. “We're going to look at the film, look at those areas and try to fix them. But I was happy with a lot of what I saw.”
The junior varsity Miners played before the varsity game and defeated Ponderosa 26-6.
To contact Sports Writer Anthony Barstow, e-mail abarstow@theunion.com or call 530-477-4232.
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