Miners Too Much For Hillmen

Nevada Union's Tanner Vallejo, center white jesey, picks up yardage in the Miners frosh football game Thursday at Placer. NU improved its season record to 6-0 with a 49-18 win.

Oct. 16, 2009

NU Tops Hillmen In Blowout, 49-18

It was billed as the frosh Super Bowl of the foothills.

But Thursday’s big freshman non-league showdown in Auburn between undefeated teams Nevada Union and Placer wasn’t as close as many grid prognosticators had expected.

Sparked by a bevy of big plays, NU’s Miners rolled down Highway 49 and flexed their muscles in a big way handing previously unbeaten Placer a 49-18 drubbing.

And don’t let the final score fool you as NU led 34-6 by halftime and cruised to the victory in the second half. The Miners are now 6-0 on the season and will begin Delta Valley League play next week.

Placer had entered Thursday’s game 5-0 and had outscored its opposition by a 225-37 count during that span.

But the Hillmen had no answer for NU’s smooth working wing-T offense and a hard-hitting defense that kept Placer’s high-scoring

The Miners showed they meant business early as they took the opening kickoff and drove 60 yards for a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.

NU quarterback Kyle Cota, whose passing kept the Hillmen defense off balance all evening,  did the honors by scoring on a seven-yard option run for the touchdown. Michael Buonarati then made the first of five extra point kicks for the 7-0 lead.

The Miners then added touchdowns by Tanner Vallejo on a 14-yard run and by Hank Humphers on a 47-yard run on a wrap-around draw play.

However, the big play for NU on the evening came on the final play of the first half when Buonarati picked off a Casey Yunk pass and returned it 98-yards for a touchdown and a 34-6 bulge at intermission.

In the second half, Humphers added a 58-yard scoring run and Bobby Curtis caught a 20-yard TD pass from Cota.

Humphers rushed 10 times for 143 yards and two scores, while Vallejo added 10 carries for 79 yards. Cota threw five passes for 73 yards.

The defensive standouts for NU included Humphers, Vallejo, Jamie Sanders, Tyler Fernandez, Gabe Saturnino, Nate Dickinson, Bobby Curtis, and Ian Davis.

In other frosh action Thursday:

Colfax 20 Mesa Verde 0- at Citrus Heights – The Falcons avenged a loss from Week One by playing a good- all-around game in subduing the Mavericks.

Austin Perry ran for a pair of scores and quarterback Clay Southerland scored on a two-yard run as the Falcons improved to 3-3 overall and 1-1 in the PVL.

Defensive standouts in the game included Cody Baugh and R.J. Hurley who had an interception.

Granite Bay 35 Del Oro 7 - at Loomis – The rematch between the Grizzlies and Golden Eagles turned into a rout in the Sierra Foothill League opener for both teams in Loomis.

Granite Bay had defeated Del Oro in Week Two in a non-league game, 21-20. Del Oro is now 4-2 overall on the season.