Lack of officials & opposing teams forces local HS football schedule changes

October 7, 2021 Trevor Montgomery

From the Bleachers – With Ron Mosher

BIG VALLEY GAME MOVED UP A DAY
BURNEY MOVES HOMECOMING GAME
FALL RIVER HOMECOMING IS THIS FRIDAY

A couple of football game date and time changes were announced today, affecting Big Valley and Burney Jr/Sr High School’s.

BIG VALLEY CARDINALS:

The Big Valley Cardinals were set to host Hayfork this Friday night (Oct. 8) but forced to move the game up a night to Thursday (Oct 7) due to not enough officials to cover all the games on tap for Friday. Kickoff time has also been changed, as the school’s have moved it up from 6pm to 5pm, due to Hayfork’s travel time/distance with school the next day. The Big Valley volleyball team will host Surprise Valley on Thursday starting at 4pm – making the night a double header.

In my humble opinion, you’ll probably never see a larger school being forced to change their football schedule due to lack of officials. Much less criticism when you choose schools with smaller enrollment – not as many people to throw up a stink.

BURNEY RAIDERS:

The Burney Raiders have this Friday night off with a Bye, and originally had set their homecoming game for Friday night, October 15 against Loyalton. However, when Loyalton cancelled their season, it left Burney hanging with their Homecoming set and no opponent. They managed to find a foe in Anderson Valley Jr/Sr High School but in order to book the game, moved it to Saturday, October 16 with a start time of 5pm.

So what’s the skinny on this new as of now, unheard of opponent.

The Anderson Valley Panthers are located in Boonville, a town of just over 1,000 is located in Mendocino County east of Clear Lake. The travel distance to Burney is 226 miles – therefore the move to a Saturday game. Like our Intermountain Area schools, Anderson Valley is a Junior/Senior high with an enrollment of 136 in all six class years. A strange fact – both schools are located on ‘Mountain View Road” in their respective towns.

FALL RIVER BULLDOGS:

The Fall River Bulldogs Friday night game is still scheduled to be played as planned. The Bigg Wolverines come to town to pit two undefeated squads meeting head to head. Biggs owns a 3-0 mark, while the hosting Bulldogs are sitting at 4-0.

The night is also Homecoming for the Bulldogs, with festivities taking place all week long at the school, with the football night set to have the JV teams battle at 5:30 and varsity to follow.

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. 16: Anderson Valley at Burney (Homecoming) 5pm
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. 7: Hayfork at Big Valley 4pm
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.