Wheatland dropped decisively on homecoming by Colfax

It looked so simple, effortless, too. One hand-off, 39 yards. On the first play from scrimmage, Colfax's Hunter Perez charged upfield and foreshadowed exactly how the rest of the night would go.

All Falcons, all the time. If a fan stepped away for a moment to grab some nachos or even looked down at their phone to send a text, there was a good chance they missed a big Colfax play Friday at John Sohrakoff Jr. Field.

There were plenty of them in the 49-12 clinic the Falcons held at the expense of the Wheatland High football team.

"It started from the first play," Wheatland coach Javier Lopez said, "and it was a rolling train after that."

And that train didn't stop at all in the first half. It didn't even hit the brakes until nine minutes left in the game, when the Falcons had to punt for the first time.

By the end of the first quarter, it was 21-0. At halftime it was 42-0. Aside from the always-loud, happy-go-lucky Wheatland student section, the homecoming crowd didn't have much to erupt over in what could be the roughest 24 minutes the Pirates endure all season.

In the days leading up to this game, Lopez said that Perez and quarterback Austin Young were going to present problems for the Pirates if they played to their potential. They did, and then some.

Perez had 141 yards in the first half to go with three TDs, before adding an insurance score in the second half. After rollicking through the Pirates' defense for that 39-yard carry, his ability to continually roll off healthy gains paved the way for Young and the play-action pass.

A 6-foot-5 quarterback, the senior took full advantage of a Wheatland secondary that didn't see a lot of passing in its first four games. His first throw was a 10-yard TD strike to a wide open Sam Quinlan. He connected with Quinlan again for another score and had 86 yards passing before he threw his first incomplete pass.

Wheatland simply had no answers, for anything.

"We have to be more disciplined defensively," Lopez said.

Offensively, Wheatland's struggles were just as evident. Colfax, like Wheatland's main rival Sutter, doesn't have players go both ways. They're either offense or defense, and therefore are more specialized and less tired. The proof came with three first-half interceptions.

Wheatland started to register an offensive pulse after Haydon Liessman caught a 9-yard TD pass and Tyler Larcom rumbled off a 65-yard touchdown run in the third quarter. The obvious takeaway from these scores for Lopez was, as Butte View League play looms, they have to try and accomplish these types of feats before falling into such a deep hole.

After a short chat with his players, one where he didn't yell or admonish or get overly emotional, Lopez didn't seem too worried about the result. Entering BVL play, the Pirates' lone loss is to a team climbing up the Northern California Division III State Bowl rankings.

"We'll take 4-1," Lopez said. "We'll take 4-1 every year."