Honkers jump out to lead, falter in second half

SACRAMENTO — What started with a bang ended with a whimper for the Yuba City High football team on Saturday.

Taking on Maria Carrillo of Santa Rosa in the "Smackdown in Sactown" two-day football showcase, the Honkers came out blazing by marching right down the field on their first two possessions to take a quick 10-0 lead.

However, it all went downhill from there.

After controlling the action the entire first quarter, the Honkers' offense came to a sudden halt and the Pumas took advantage by scoring twice in the second half to hand Yuba City a 19-10 setback at Grant High.

It was a far cry from the season opener for Yuba City, which hung tough against a strong Cosumnes Oaks team before falling 22-21 late.

This time, the Honkers were low on energy and made mental miscues, which is an area of concern for their coach.

"The first game we played hard and the kids put it all on the line. Today, the attitude was different and that's something we need to address," Yuba City coach John Ithurburn said. "We need to find our identity."

Things looked good at the outset when the Honkers unleashed their power running game to march 80 yards for a touchdown on the game's first drive. Quarterback Taylor Elkins broke off a 39-yard run on the second play of the day and junior fullback Nate Van Dusen carried the ball six times for 31 yards on the drive, which he capped with an 11-yard touchdown run to stake the Honkers a 7-0 lead.

It was more of the same on Yuba City's second possession when the Honkers moved the ball 49 yards, leading to a 27-yard field goal by Roberto Juarez to make the score 10-0.

Yuba City (0-2) appeared to have the game in hand at that point, but things changed in a hurry. After piling up 124 yards of offense in the first quarter, the Honkers managed just 89 yards the rest of the way and Maria Carrillo took control.

The Pumas (1-0) got on the board early in the second quarter when Julian Gonzalez found Nate King for a 15-yard scoring strike to and the Honkers went into the locker room with a 10-6 lead.

Garrett Koop scored on a 4-yard touchdown run in the third quarter to give the Pumas a 12-10 lead and Cody Giles added a 16-yard scoring run with 3:43 remaining to put the game out of reach.

The second half proved to be all Maria Carrillo, which limited the Honkers to just 47 yards of offense while forcing three turnovers.

"We needed to get some of our defensive players to adjust to the situation and be more aggressive," Maria Carrillo coach Jay Higgins said. "We were passive in the first half and that's not what you want to do against a team that's trying to run the ball right at you."

Van Dusen led the way for the Honkers with 15 carries for 83 yards and two receptions for another 32. Anthony Garcia tallied 10 tackles and Julian Saavedra and Cooper Goldby both recorded a sack to spearhead Yuba City's defense, which was strong, limiting the Pumas to 267 yards in the game.

"We just didn't execute today," Ithurburn said. "We had opportunities and we didn't get it done."