Bulldogs and Raiders post wins as Dixie Fire shakes up opponents’ rosters

September 28, 2021 Trevor Montgomery

From the Bleachers – With Ron Mosher

Both the Fall River Bulldogs and Burney Raiders posted victories this past Friday night, as the far reaching tentacles of the monster Dixie Fire played a part in the on-field activities in both games.

In the early days of the Dixie fiasco, the picturesque town of Greenville was pretty much destroyed by flames, throwing the future of not only the town, but its high school in turmoil. The town is/was located in Plumas county and has two other high schools fairly close by – Quincy and Chester. Despite the fire coming oh-so-close to these two towns, they survived with their high school’s intact.

Students who last year attended Greenville Jr/Sr High School are being bussed to either Quincy or Chester for this school year, and some of those are playing sports at their new adopted school.

The Chester Volcano football team honored the Greenville school by painting their helmets the Greenville school colors, while in Quincy the huge ‘Q’ on the hill above town was repainted to represent the school colors of both Greenville and Quincy high schools.

SEE OTHER RECENT “FROM THE BLEACHERS” ARTICLES:
Intermountain area football – Bulldogs & Cards win, Raiders fall to powerhouse Redding Christian
Fall River school honors recent bombing victims “The 13”
The Real Story Isn’t the Score…
Lady Bulldogs “ace” bigger schools to start volleyball season
From the Bleachers – With Ron Mosher: The Original Four

FALL RIVER:

The Fall River Bulldogs hosted the Quincy Trojans here Friday night and shutout the visitors, 37-0. The powerful ‘Dawgs have yet to give up a point in their first three games of the season… that’s zip, nada, nothing, zero! In fact, they’ve outscored their foes, 87-0.

The hosts set the tone for the evening in the first quarter, blanking the Trojans, 16-0 on their way to their third win in as many games.

The powerful Fall River Bulldogs trounced the Quincy Trojans Friday night, sweeping the visitors 37-0. They have yet to give up a point in the first three games of their season outscoring their foes, 87-0.

Senior quarterback Ryan Osborne tossed for 174 yards in going 12-for-17 in the aerial game and one touchdown and an interception. He also scored four TD’s in rushing covering 87 yards in 12 carries. Cannon Oilar caught three of Osborne’s passes for 95 yards and a touchdown in three catches. Evan Bidwell caught four for 45 yards, Cory Corder 2-for-21, Evan Dobson 2-for-12 and Andrew Parker 1-for-1 yard.

Dobson led the ground attack in rushing for 96 yards on 14 totes, with Carter Kroschel adding 10 and Parker four yards.

On defense, Isiah Wortman notched seven tackles with Dobson adding six. Parker intercepted a Trojan pass, while Josh Kask recovered a fumble. Kask also covered the ball that the Trojans fumbled into their own end zone on a bad snap for a two-point safety for Fall River.

In points-after-touchdown action, Dobson ran for two 2-point conversions and Jovan Venegas kicked one.

Fall River travels to Maxwell this Friday for both a JV and varsity game starting at 5pm.

BURNEY:

The Burney Raiders evened their league mark at 2-2 (3-2 overall) with a lopsided 42-25 win on the road in Chester. The Raiders held a slim 20-19 lead at intermission, but broke the game open in the second half outscoring the Vols, 22-6.

“The first half was a dog fight,” summed up head coach Jed Tate, “but the Raiders finally had enough dilly-dallying and started pushing the Chester kids around in the second half.”

Burney stuck mainly to the ground game, and it paid off big time, rushing for a whopping 476 yards of offense. Bryan Banos led the charge in carrying the ball 16 times for 224 yards and four touchdowns – including breaking for a 67-yard TD. Carson Crook amassed 166 yards in carrying the ball 24 times and notched two touchdowns and a pair of running PAT’s. Eric Davies carried the ball eight times for 49 yards and completed two-of-three passes. Lukas Sanchez recovered a fumble and an on-side kick, while Davis snapped up an interception.

“We had contributions up and down the depth of the chart. The team is excited to build on this success,” summed up coach Tate.

Burney travels to Tulelake on Friday for a 4pm kickoff.

BIG VALLEY:

The Big Valley Cardinals were idle Friday night, as they were scheduled to play Herlong at home, but Herlong did not field a team this year. The Cardinals hit the road to Princeton this Friday for a game starting at 6pm.

Stay tuned for next week’s scores, game highlights and updates!

BURNEY RAIDER FOOTBALL 2021
Varsity only

Friday, Aug. 27: Tulelake at Burney 6pm (FINAL SCORE: 44-33 – BURNEY WIN)
Wed., Sept. 1: Big Valley at Burney (Fair Bowl) 6pm (FINAL SCORE: 22-14 – BURNEY WIN)
Friday, Sept. 10: Burney at Loyalton 6pm (FINAL SCORE: 18-24 – LOYALTON WIN)
Friday, Sept. 17: Redding Christian at Burney 6pm (FINAL SCORE: 39-6 – RC WIN)
Friday, Sept. 24: Burney at Chester 6pm (FINAL SCORE: 42-25 – BURNEY WIN)
Friday, Oct. 1: Burney at Tulelake 6pm
Friday, Oct. 8: No scheduled game
Friday, Oct. 15: Burney at Loyalton (Homecoming) 6pm
Friday, Oct. 22: Burney at Redding Christian 6pm
Friday, Oct. 29: Burney at Chester at Burney 6pm

FALL RIVER FOOTBALL 2021
JV and Varsity teams
JV games:

Wed. Sept. 1: Fall River at Modoc 5:30pm (COVID CANCELLED)
Sat. Sept. 11: Fall River at Ferndale 12 noon

Varsity games

Friday Sept. 17: Pierce at Fall River 5pm (FINAL SCORE: 14-0 FALL RIVER WIN)
Friday Sept. 24: Quincy at Fall River 5pm (FINAL SCORE: 37-0 – FALL RIVER WIN)
Friday Oct. 1: Fall River at Maxwell 5:30pm
Friday Oct. 8: Biggs at Fall River 5:30pm
Friday Oct. 15: Fall River at Weed 5:30pm
Friday Oct. 22: Fall River at Portola 5:30pm
Friday Oct. 29: Etna at Fall River 5:30pm
Friday Nov. 5: Fall River at Los Molinos 5pm

BIG VALLEY FOOTBALL 2021
Varsity only

Wed. Sept. 1: Big Valley at Burney (Fair Bowl) 6pm (FINAL SCORE: 22-14 – BURNEY WIN)
Friday Sept. 17: Butte Valley at Big Valley 7pm (FINAL SCORE: 39-6 BIG VALLEY WIN)
Friday Sept. 24: Greenville at Big Valley 7pm (NO GAME PLAYED)
Friday Oct. 1: Big Valley at Princeton 7pm
Friday Oct. 8: Hayfork at Big Valley 7pm
Friday Oct. 15: Big Valley at Dunsmuir 7pm
Friday Oct. 22: Westwood at Big Valley 7pm
Friday Oct. 29: Big Valley at Happy Camp 7pm

About Ron, from the man himself:

I began doing sports coverage since the days of Dennis Smith at the Intermountain News in Burney in the mid 1960s through the mid 1970s. I took a long break after moving to the Bay Area, where I had an eight year stint with the San Francisco Giants front office as accounting and data processing manager – so my life has pretty much revolved around balls – footballs, basketballs, soccer balls, volleyballs, softballs, baseballs and the kids who toss ’em, catch ’em and excel in sports.

I returned to the Intermountain area in the 1990s and restarted my sports life in the area by working for Donna and Walt Caldwell and their Mountain Echo newspaper, retiring a few years ago after 20-plus years chasing kids all over northern California covering their antics in playing games.

I have a love for all three of the Intermountain area schools, having attended Big Valley elementary through fourth grade, graduating from Burney elementary and then becoming a 4-year Fall River Bulldog, graduating in 1961… yep, I’m an old guy.

But, I’m an old guy who’s glad to be returning to the keyboard in following Intermountain Area sports and the kids who play ’em… remember: Find something round… you’ll have a ball!

Contact the editor: [email protected]

Trevor Montgomery, 50, moved in 2017 to the Intermountain area of Shasta County from Riverside County and runs Riverside County News Source (RCNS) and Shasta County News Source (SCNS).

Additionally, he writes or has written for several other news organizations; including Riverside County-based newspapers Valley News, Valley Chronicle, Anza Valley Outlook, and Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle; the Bonsall/Fallbrook Village News in San Diego County; and Mountain Echo in Shasta County. He is also a regular contributor to Thin Blue Line TV and Law Enforcement News Network and has had his stories featured on news stations throughout the Southern California and North State regions.

Trevor spent 10 years in the U.S. Army as an Orthopedic Specialist before joining the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in 1998. He was medically retired after losing his leg, breaking his back, and suffering both spinal cord and brain injuries in an off-duty accident. (Click here to see segment of Discovery Channel documentary of Trevor’s accident.)

During his time with the sheriff’s department, Trevor worked at several different stations; including Robert Presley Detention Center, Southwest Station in Temecula, Hemet/Valle Vista Station, Ben Clark Public Safety Training Center, and Lake Elsinore Station; along with other locations.

Trevor’s assignments included Corrections, Patrol, DUI Enforcement, Boat and Personal Water-Craft based Lake Patrol, Off-Road Vehicle Enforcement, Problem Oriented Policing Team, and Personnel/Background Investigations. He finished his career while working as a Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Investigator and was a court-designated expert in child abuse and child sex-related crimes.

Trevor has been married for more than 30 years and was a foster parent to more than 60 children over 13 years. He is now an adoptive parent and his “fluid family” includes 13 children and 18 grandchildren.