MARYSVILLE, CA (MPG) - The Marysville Indians varsity football team picked up their first Pioneer Valley League (PVL) win Friday night, September 30, as they beat the Colfax Falcons 26-7.

Marysville (4-2, 1-1 PVL) already has the same number of PVL wins that they have achieved every year since the 2018 season. The Indians haven’t won more than one game in the PVL since 2017, when they won three.

Marysville coach Will Claggett told the Territorial Dispatch after a 35-0 loss at Sutter on September 16 that he wanted to focus on getting more players into the game through player rotations. 

“We did that,” Claggett told the Dispatch. “We added 10-12 more guys than what we normally play.”

The Indians split the carries primarily between four senior players that included running backs Danny Lanini, Joe Endicott, fullback Luke Harryman and quarterback Kayden Ellyson.

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The four seniors had nine carries each for Marysville, combining for 43 of the team’s 47 rushing attempts and 291 out of 297 rushing yards. Claggett told the Dispatch that the extra depth and constant rotations kept his players fresh and they weren’t gassed by the time the fourth quarter came around.

The leading rusher for the Indians against Colfax (3-3, 1-2 PVL) was Ellyson with 13 carries for 140 yards and two scores. One of the senior’s two scores came on a 53-yard rushing touchdown where he wiggled through a bunched pile at the line and darted to the end zone when he was able to break free.

Lanini, who is second on Marysville in rushing yards and carries for the season, contributed 99 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries.

Endicott is the leading rusher for the Indians in multiple categories that include yards (592), carries (97), and rushing touchdowns with nine. He had a quiet night Friday as the senior added nine carries for 22 yards and a score against the Falcons.

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Harryman pitched in nine carries for 30 yards on the ground. Claggett told the Dispatch that he noticed a big difference in his team's stamina during the games against Colfax and Sutter. 

Marysville has not made the playoffs since the 2016 season when they were eliminated in the semifinals of the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Sac-Joaquin Section (SJS) Division V playoffs.

The Indians have four PVL games remaining and were projected on September 26 by MaxPreps to make the CIF SJS Division VI playoffs as an at-large entrant.

Marysville will host Bear River (1-5, 0-2 PVL) of Grass Valley this Friday night, October 7, at 7:30 p.m.