By Ray Hamill — The South Fork Cubs will begin five straight weeks of league play this week, as they get set for what they hope will be a successful stretch run.
And if the first half of the season is anything to go by, they appear well up for the challenge.
A forfeit win over Roseland Prep on Saturday lifted head coach Karl Terrell’s team to 4-1, with a two-point loss to a Hayfork team that had won 29 straight games going into that showdown the only blemish on their record.
On Thursday night, they open league play in the NCL II at home against Cornerstone Christian in a showdown between two top-four eight-player programs in the North Coast Section.
“If we keep progressing the way we have been, we should do pretty good against those guys,” Terrell said of the No. 4 Cougars, who are 3-2 on the season.
The No. 2 Cubs will play the game without influential junior Kael Puno.
The team’s starting quarterback has missed the last two games through injury and will likely miss the next three as well before returning for the team’s penultimate regular-season game against Branson.
Puno has been one of the Cubs’ key contributors this fall and was leading the team in rushing yards (339 on 58 carries) and tackles (21) when he was sidelined.
In his absence, Terrell has moved some players around, including switching Martin Navarrete to quarterback.
And the senior standout has not disappointed.
He leads the team in rushing yards (483 on 51 carries) and touchdowns on what has been a very high-scoring offense through the opening month of the season.
The Cubs are averaging 59.5 points in the four games they have played, including an incredible 72 points a game in their three victories.
The 94 points they scored against Elite two weeks ago has got to be the most points ever scored by an H-DNL team and a remarkable tally even considering the high-scoring nature of eight-player football.
A big part of that success is the team’s two lines, a group that includes senior Bo Ayala, junior Lucas Edwards and sophomore Koda Walls.
“That is a big plus for this team,” Terrell said of the unit. “And on both sides of the ball.”
Walls has been particularly impressive and finished with 10 tackles in a recent 68-28 win at Calistoga, a high number that is even more remarkable considering he only played three full quarters as the game got away from the hosts.
Another sophomore who has been impressing his coaches early in the season is running back/defensive back Kaidyn Hendershot, who has taken on a bigger role in the offensive backfield in the absence of Puno.
Hendershot has rushed for 219 yards on 32 carries for an average of 6.8 and he now has five TDs.
Senior Toby Tennessee also has impressed carrying the ball and has 218 yards on 15 carries for a remarkable 14.5 yards a carry, to go with three TDs.
The South Fork defense has also impressed, forcing 10 takeaways in the four games.
“Our defense is making turnovers and we’re capitalizing on it,” Terrell said.
Thursday’s game in Miranda kicks off at 6 p.m.
