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Nevada Union’s Rhyder Eelkema fends off the East Union defense as he picks up yards during the second half of the Miner’s first round playoff matchup against the Lancers.
East Union High School’s Jackson Fay (6) defends against Nevada Union junior Xavier Deniz (14), but can’t stop the Miners from coming away with the touchdown from this endzone pass from quarterback Liam Crossen.
A pass intended for Nevada Union’s Carter Van Matre (0) is nearly intercepted by East Union’s Anthony Oteri (14) during the Miner’s playoff loss to the Lancers Friday at Hooper Stadium.
The Miners Elijah Rogers (27) makes a tackled on a Lancers runner in Nevada Unions 21-14 playoff loss Friday night.
Craig Statler (71) picks up a fumble for the Miners in their home playoff game Friday night against the Lancers at Nevada Union High School
Isiah Little (13) tackles a East Union running back in the Miners 21-14 loss Friday night at Nevada Union High School.
The Miners Carter Van Matre (0) tackles a East Union Lancers player in the Nevada Union 21-14 home playoff loss at Hooper Stadium.
Nevada Union moves the ball down the field in front of the home sideline during Friday’s first round playoff game against the East Union Lancers.
The Miner defense attempts to corral East Union running back Brayden Camara (4) during the Lancer’s 21-14 win over the Miners Friday at Hooper Stadium.
Nevada Union’s Rhyder Eelkema fends off the East Union defense as he picks up yards during the second half of the Miner’s first round playoff matchup against the Lancers.
East Union High School’s Jackson Fay (6) defends against Nevada Union junior Xavier Deniz (14), but can’t stop the Miners from coming away with the touchdown from this endzone pass from quarterback Liam Crossen.
A pass intended for Nevada Union’s Carter Van Matre (0) is nearly intercepted by East Union’s Anthony Oteri (14) during the Miner’s playoff loss to the Lancers Friday at Hooper Stadium.
The Miners Elijah Rogers (27) makes a tackled on a Lancers runner in Nevada Unions 21-14 playoff loss Friday night.
Craig Statler (71) picks up a fumble for the Miners in their home playoff game Friday night against the Lancers at Nevada Union High School
Isiah Little (13) tackles a East Union running back in the Miners 21-14 loss Friday night at Nevada Union High School.
The Miners Carter Van Matre (0) tackles a East Union Lancers player in the Nevada Union 21-14 home playoff loss at Hooper Stadium.
Nevada Union moves the ball down the field in front of the home sideline during Friday’s first round playoff game against the East Union Lancers.
The Miner defense attempts to corral East Union running back Brayden Camara (4) during the Lancer’s 21-14 win over the Miners Friday at Hooper Stadium.
The Nevada Union Miners opened the D-IV CIF Sac-Joaquin Section football playoffs Friday night against the East Union Lancers, who made the trip up to Grass Valley from Manteca. The Miners started fast with a defensive touchdown but fell to the Lancers 21-14 at Hooper Stadium.
“When you’re in the playoffs, field position, special teams, and turnovers, that’s the thing,” Miners head coach Brad Sparks said. “You know what I mean. They had some, and we had really big ones at pivotal points tonight, and then, I don’t know how many times. I want to say we’re in the red zone at least three times and couldn’t capitalize. They played a heck of a game. They did a great job. They were the better team tonight, and this one’s going to sting for a while.”
The Miners forced a fumble on the Lancers opening possession and Austin Putnam returned it for a touchdown to take a 7-0 lead. The Miners forced another fumble on the Lancers’ next possession, which Craig Statler picked up. The Miners got deep in the red zone but could not convert on fourth down and turned the ball over. The score remained 7-0 to end the first quarter.
East Union scored on a touchdown run in the second quarter from running back Brayden Camara to tie the game at seven. On the Miners’ next possession, Rhyder Eelkema fumbled, and the Lancers recovered. East Union capitalized on the turnover with a four-yard touchdown run to go up 14-7, which was the score going into halftime.
In the third quarter, the Lancers scored a touchdown on a pass from Anthony Morales to Jackson Fay to go up 21-7. On the Miners’ next possession quarterback Liam Crossen hooked up with receiver Xavier Deniz on a touchdown pass to cut the score to 21-14.
The Miners’ defense held the Lancers on the next possession and blocked a punt as time expired in the third quarter, and Nevada Union was in business. On offense, the drive stalled when the Miners could not convert a 4th and one, which gave the ball back to the Lancers.
Nevada Union’s defense held them again, but when the Miners were driving down the field, Eelkema broke a nice run, but the Lancers defense forced a fumble and recovered it. The Miners’ defense once again stepped up the challenge when the Lancers decided to go for fourth down, and Logan Eandi picked the ball off, giving the Miners one more chance to it.
Unfortunately, the Miners could not convert, and their season ended with a 21-14 playoff loss.
The Miners rushed for 137 yards with Eelkema leading the way with 91, Ziggy Pritchett added 30 yards. Crossen thew for 74 yards and a touchdown to to Xavier Deniz for 34 yards.
On defense Carter Van Matre lead the team with 11 tackles. Grady Kamaba and Elijah Rogers added ten. Jake Barefield added nine tackles and so did Putnam.
It is always tough to lose a playoff game, but the Miners will return the entire offensive backfield next season.
“We’re looking forward to a lot of stuff,” Sparks said. “We return most of the offense for next year. When you return your entire backfield, that’s pretty impressive. We get McCallum back next year, he will be healthy. We got Rhyder. You got Ziggy. We return almost all of our linemen, but Nate Via so, you know, that’s pretty exciting for us, but right now, it’s going to hurt, and you know it should because losing playoff football games isn’t fun for anybody.”
Also, the Miners will continue to run the wing-t offense.
“I’m really proud of what these guys did with it this year,” Sparks said. “I mean, we have it installed for the first year. My hat goes off to my coaches tonight; we adjusted and moved people around. You know, the coaches coached really hard tonight. For us, in the first year of installing the wing-T, I’ve got more than 20 years of running the wing-T. Jim Rubiales probably has about 80 years now, which is more like 40. Ernie’s got over 20. I’ve got a staff that knows the wing-T knows how to coach it, so that’s why we’re as good as we were this year with it, and it’s going to be even more exciting next year. But I don’t want that to over cloud how well these guys did this year, especially for our seniors. Those guys played so hard this year: Elijah Rogers, Kamba, Jake, Nate Via, and Carter Van Matre. They all just played so well, and we just didn’t get it done tonight.”
To contact Sports Reporter LaMarr Fields email lfields@theunion.com.
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