Sutter plunders title

The Huskies' hands shot skyward, their index fingers piercing the air at John Sohrakoff Jr. Stadium.

Then the hands shifted toward the West, their index fingers centered at a scoreboard displaying a result even Huskies coach Ryan Reynolds couldn't have fathomed: Sutter 42, Wheatland 15.

Once again, the Sutter High football team is No.1 in the Butte View League.

And once again, the margin of victory against the Pirates wasn't even close, thanks to a well-rounded Husky effort that found paydirt in 22 seconds and added 21 points in the fourth quarter to resoundingly drop their biggest rival in the final game of the regular season.

"Big players step up in big games," Reynolds said. "I can't even count everyone that (stepped up) on two hands."

Quarterback Grant Campbell rushed for three scores, Sutter's defense suffocated the Pirates' running attack and Justin Gildemeister returned a kickoff 80-plus yards for a touchdown to temper all hopes of a Wheatland comeback.

"I predicted a very close one score football game," Reynolds said. "It's a credit to our kids' work ethic."

On the game's opening kickoff, Wheatland's Lacarlis Moore fumbled the ball which was recovered by Sutter kicker Cody Shoegren on 20-yard line. On the following play, Campbell cruised into the end zone untouched to give the Huskies a lead 22 seconds in.

"There's no question the start of this football game set the tone for the entire game," Reynolds said.

It showed. Wheatland's offense floundered against a speedy and strong Sutter (8-2, 5-0) defense that held the Pirates (8-2, 4-1) to 68 yards rushing in the first half and BVL leading rusher Derick Seward to 18 yards on the game. With the run game stymied, the Pirates' tried to go to the air, which yielded two completions and two interceptions — one of which Leszek Ratajczak returned for a touchdown to put the score at 14-0.

The Pirates did find the end zone before halftime, thanks to a key 17-yard fourth down reception from Tyler Creditor and a nice 6-yard QB keeper from Jonnie Millington that broke the plane with 5 seconds left in the second quarter.

After a third quarter quagmire, Wheatland took advantage of a Sutter fumble two plays after the Pirates' offense couldn't convert on fourth down. With the ball at midfield, Wheatland marched toward the East end zone, using an 18-yard Clint Johnson run and a pass interference call on fourth down to set up a first and goal at the 7-yard line. Given the opportunity, Johnson, a replacement for injured Pirates' standout Vince Vetrone, ran for the score, evoking the loudest, most excited exclamations from a Wheatland crowd which had spent the majority of the evening in stunned silence.

It took just seconds for Gildemeister to hush the crowd

Taking the kickoff, the shifty junior juked his way to an open left sideline, which he scorched down to give the Huskies back a two-score lead.

"That was huge; that man just totally shook (the Pirates) and you saw heads drop," Wheatland coach Javier Lopez said.

Sutter took advantage of a pair of late Wheatland fumbles deep in Pirates territory to add the final two scores of the game.

His players in a semi circle, Reynolds advised his Huskies to remain somewhat stoic, regardless of the fact they just fired a cannon blast of a statement heading into the playoffs, where they will go for a third straight Northern Section Division II title.

"We've been here before. We're used to this," he said.