The South Fork Cubs have won four of their past five games, including an 81-34 win over Potter Valley last weekend, but could a return to 11-man football be in the works?
The Cubs will try to build on that momentum when they travel to play league rivals Upper Lake in a non-league showdown on Friday, before playing them again in two weeks in what likely be a conference decider.
The two teams are both 4-2 on the season and 2-0 in the NCL-II.
The Cubs were originally scheduled to play Conerstone Christian this weekend, but that game was canceled at the last minute, as many eight-man football games are.
The constant schedule rearranging in eight-man football has South Fork head coach Karl Terrell wondering whether the Cubs would be better off back in the Little 4 playing 11-man ball.
Terrell retired this past offseason but returned early in the campaign after the new head coach stepped down one week into the season.
The long-time coach is unsure of how long he will be in charge, but said this week that he will be looking at the possibility of returning the Cubs to the Little 4.
A number of players continued to impress for the team against Potter Valley, as the Cubs took a commanding 36-6 lead in the opening quarter and used the game to play several younger players.
Wesley Way had nine carries for 168 yards and four TDs, while teammate Justin Freitas scored five touchdowns, including three on the ground.
Freitas racked up 196 yards on eight carries and also scored on a TD reception and a punt return.
“We played well,” Terrell said. “We’re still making mistakes, but I think we’re getting more consistent with what we’re doing.”
The Cubs have been particularly impressive on defense and their starting unit has held most opponents to little or no scoring.
Zack Wilkes had a big game defensively against Potter Valley, returning a fumble for a TD and also scoring the two-point conversion on the play.
Jasper Wilke also had a TD, while John Harding had two fumble recoveries and and Broc Contreras one.
Shevy Bero-van Meter had a team-high 17 tackles in the win, while Wilks and Cannon Baker had 11 each.
Friday’s game at Upper Lake is scheduled for 6 p.m.
Categories: Football, South Fork
I agree that South Fork should return to the Little 4. There is no question, when looking at what is best for the athletes and students competing during the year, that the Little 4 should return to what it was in the past, and the Big 5 should also return to the teams that represented that league in the past.
Sports leagues are decided by enrollment, not records (wins or losses), as has been the case in this crazy experiment that the HDNL implemented several years ago. Forcing SB out of the Little 4 was not appropriate nor is it sustainable. There is no way a school like SB (enrollment barely over 100 for all four grades) should be playing a school like Eureka (enrollment over 1,000) or Del Norte in league competition. Having some of those non-league games occasionally is fine , but it is not fine to have the athletes who want to compete for a league championship year in and year out.
Arcata and McKinlyeville should be put back where they belong in the Big 5. I have heard many rumors about how all this got going, but I hope those are not true. I hope the HDNL wakes up and allows a return to fair competition amongst schools of similar size.