Gridley junior wide receiver Kaleb Sherwood (6) catches a pass from junior quarterback Gus Stogsdill in the Bulldogs 35-14 defeat on Friday, November 3. Photo by Steven Bryla

GRIDLEY, CA (MPG) - The Gridley Bulldogs football team lost its first opportunity at a Butte View League championship since the 2006 season as they lost 35-14 to the Orland Trojans.

Along with both teams coming into the game undefeated in BVL play, the other prize on the line was for essentially sole possession of the second seed in the Division III playoffs in the CIF Northern Section playoffs.

The game also featured the best offense (Orland) and defense (Gridley) regarded to by many people in the NS for the Division III bracket.

The first quarter ended scoreless as both defenses weren’t willing to give an inch to the opposing offense and hard hits were heard from the stands to show the intensity of what this game meant to both sides.

Orland opened up the scoreboard with a 50-yard touchdown pass with 5 minutes, 42 seconds. The Bulldogs responded on the next drive as junior quarterback Gus Stogsdill scored on a 1-yard touchdown rush late in the second quarter, but Gridley missed the point after touchdown (PAT) and trailed 7-6.

After a huge kick return by the Trojans on the following possession, they had great field position and were able to quickly add another score with a little over a minute left in the first half.

The Bulldogs trailed 14-6 at the half and were able to move the ball effectively.

Gridley head coach Mike Meyer expressed to the Herald leading up to the game it was his goal to try and sustain long offensive drives to keep the Orland offense off the field as much as possible.

Stogsdill led the way for the Bulldogs offensively as he had 44 passing yards and 49 rushing yards in the first half.

The Trojans opened the second half with a quick score to extend their lead 22-6 after a 49-yard touchdown rush. Gridley didn’t roll over and pushed back as Stogsdill found junior wide receiver Garrett Francis for an 11-yard touchdown pass.

Gridley junior wide receiver Garrett Francis (24) reaches for the goal line for a touchdown reception in the Bulldogs 35-14 loss on Friday, November 3. Photo by Steven Bryla

That would be the end of the scoring for the Bulldogs as the Orland defense eventually locked in and held the Gridley offense scoreless on their three final possessions of the game.

Meyer told his team in the post-game huddle how proud he was of them and reiterated it multiple times.

“I am very proud to represent all those individuals on this team as their head coach and they have done everything I’ve asked of them,” Meyer said.

Gridley junior quarterback Gus Stogsdill (3) breaks a tackle in the Bulldogs 35-14 defeat to Orland on Friday, November 3. Photo by Steven Bryla

BIGGS

MOUNT SHASTA, CA (MPG) - The Biggs Wolverines ended the regular season with a 51-0 shutout victory over the Mount Shasta Bears on Friday, November 3.

The victory for Biggs secured a home playoff game and the seventh victoron the season along with consecutive 50-point scoring efforts.

 The Wolverines offense has over 500 rushing yards and averaged over 14 yards per carry.

 Junior running back Davis Long had 286 rushing yards on 13 carries with two touchdowns. This was the seventh 100-yard rushing game for Long this season.

 Defensively this was the second shutout for head coach Brian Harrison in the session as the first one came in the opening week against Redding Christian.

 One of the biggest hurdles in an end of the year battle with playoffs coming quickly is keeping everyone healthy and out of harm's way.

 Harrison told the Herald that he was able to get a lot of players in there who earned their spot and substituted a lot throughout the game.

LIVE OAK
DURHAM, CA (MPG) - The Live Oak Lions football team ended the regular season with a 17-0 shutout victory over the Durham Trojans on Friday, November 3.

Live Oak scored a rushing touchdown on the opening drive of the game and wouldn’t find the end zone until the fourth quarter.

Lions head coach Robert Tilton expressed to the Herald that the offense struggled in Durham red zone.

The Live Oak defense controlled the tempo and shut down everything the Trojans offense had to offer.

In the second quarter, Live Oak scored the two points off a safety as the Durham line man threw it over the head of the punter and rolled out of the end zone.

Titlon added that the Lions had a sloppy game offensively as they turned the ball over 3 times. Live Oak scored the final touchdown with a little more than eight minutes in the game to secure this victory.