Nighthawks catch Yuba City off guard

When it wasn't the big plays, it was "the belly" that burned the Yuba City High football team.

It's a circa-1950 offense, employed by a 74-year-old coach that absolutely devoured the clock in the third quarter in Natomas' 35-21 win on Friday under the lights at Honker Stadium.

And when the, full-house, "ride the fullback" formation wasn't flummoxing the Honkers, it was plays like a 70-yard touchdown reception and a 75-yard kickoff return to paydirt that robbed Yuba City from a 2-0 start in Tri-County Conference play.

"It helps," said Natomas coach Frank Negri of plays like Kashad Watson's huge catch in the first quarter to put the score at 7-0 and Anthony Pierce's return to ice the game for the Nighthawks. "Little did I expect to put up 35 points."

It happened, much to the chagrin of the Honkers (4-3, 1-1), who started the week battling the flu and ended it with a prolonged meeting in the south end zone to discuss a host of issues.

"Their big play potential beat us tonight," said Honkers coach John Ithurburn. "They were physical, they nickel and dimed us — that's what we do and they did that to us."

On the field, things started sloping downward for the Honkers in the third period. After Yuba City remained competitive thanks to a sack-happy defense and the legs of Taylor Rowe, the Nighthawks (4-3, 2-0) came out and owned the first 12 minutes of the second half.

Their defense held the Honkers to negative 22 yards of offense and used "the belly" to eat up seven-plus minutes on a 77-yard touchdown drive.

Then after a Yuba City punt went out of bounds at their own 25-yard line, Natomas added another touchdown on a fourth-down, 23-yard reception by Mustafa Vercher.

"That was all on me," Ithurburn said of Yuba City's lack of third quarter yardage.

At halftime, the defense had dropped Nighthawks quarterback Joe Hill four times in the backfield and Rowe had chugged to 128-yard and two scores to put the score at 14-14 after 24 minutes.

Of all Yuba City's weapons, the senior tailback was the only effective option throughout the duration of the contest. He would add a touchdown with 5:39 to play in the fourth — capping a 67-yard drive where Rowe accounted for 66 yards. He would finish with 182 yards.

Rowe's fourth quarter score would quickly be negated after Pierce straddled the left sideline to run in untouched on the kickoff.

While Natomas, which struggled for years before Negri's arrival this season, was celebrating, Ithurburn continued talking to his team. Next week, the Honkers play section power Inderkum, which has run roughshod over each of their opponents this year.

"This has a potential to be a downward spiral that we can't have," Ithurburn said.