Sutter falls

ORLAND – A full stadium and soggy weather was the setting for the Northern Section Division II championship game on Wednesday night.

The only thing that was missing was the offense.

For the second time in less than a month, the Sutter High football team made the trip to face league-rival Orland, and just like the first meeting between the two teams, the Trojans had the Huskies’ number.

Orland standout quarterback Austin Schmeltzer ran for one touchdown and threw for another and the Trojans bottled up Sutter’s offense all night long to pick up a 14-0 victory in Orland.

The victory gave the Trojans their first section title since 1991 and set a new school record for most wins in a season with 11.

“They’re just a good football team,” Sutter coach Ryan Reynolds said. “They had a great game plan ,so I tip my cap to them. They beat us fair and square.”

The top-seeded Trojans started the game off with a bang when Schmeltzer made a fake up the middle, tucked the ball under his arm and raced 65 yards for a touchdown on Orland’s second play from scrimmage.

Mauricio Ziranda added the point-after kick and Orland jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead just 2 minutes into the contest.

“We tried to eliminate the big play and when they got that touchdown early, I knew it was going to give us fits,” Reynolds said, “They run a ball-control offense and they’re well-disciplined. They run their offense well and they don’t make many mistakes.”

Orland added to its lead early in the second period when Schmeltzer rolled to his right and found a diving Javone Bradford for a 10-yard touchdown pass on third-and 7. Ziranda added the extra point to make the score 14-0 at the half.

The score could’ve been worse, but Sutter’s defense came up big with a goal-line stand midway through the second period to keep the Huskies within striking distance.

However, the first half was controlled by the Trojans’ defense, which limited the Huskies to a mere 57 yards of total offense in the opening 24 minutes. Sutter went three-and-out on its first three possessions of the game and managed just three first downs in the opening half – two of them came courtesy of Orland penalties.

Although Sutter moved the ball better in the second half, they still came away with no points. A would-be scoring opportunity went away when Sutter turned the ball over on downs at Orland’s 6-yard line with 4 minutes remaining in the game.

The Huskies again drove to the goal line late, but Jesus Llamas intercepted Trent Little’s pass in the end zone with 1:32 remaining to preserve the shutout.

Defense controlled the action all night as Orland outgained Sutter 190-184 in the game.

The No. 2-seeded Huskies ended the year with a 10-2 record with both of their losses coming to Orland.The Trojans also beat Sutter 28-7 in the regular-season finale to win the Butte View League title.