MONDAY MORNING QUARTERBACK: Shaking it off

It seemed beautiful, rare, too.

The throw. The leaping catch. The 70-yard combination of the two that went for a touchdown. The roar of a capacity crowd. It was quarterback Gregory Cannon to wideout Jordan Noall, a connection that couldn't have come at a better time for River Valley.

We don't see too many big-time passing plays in the Mid-Valley. We see rushes, followed by more rushes. Coaches here play it safe. They keep it vanilla to keep their win-loss ratio healthy. So a bomb of this nature, an uncorked, why-the-heck-not heave early in the second quarter of a rivalry game, was an exclusive sight.

As Noall rolled into the end zone, the "Battle of the Buttes" became a game again. It looked like Sutter 14, River Valley 13 with 10 minutes, 26 seconds to go before halftime. The excitement level rose. The confidence swelled on R.V.'s sideline. The Falcons had atoned for their bad start.

Then came the realization of a flag on the field. Offensive pass interference.

All that seemed beautiful and rare was now no more, erased by a yellow piece of fabric. River Valley's coaches steamed. Visiting fans booed hard. Anger lingered through halftime at the perceived injustice. There were two opponents now: Sutter, and the referees. All that swelling confidence segued into shock that segued into gloom.

River Valley never recovered. The Huskies scored on the ensuing possession. They blocked a punt for a score, too. They scored five times in the first half, three of which came after that call. It was a final of 42-21 Sutter, and it wasn't really that close.

Was it a fair call? That's a debate for message boards, not here. Wanye Gadberry Field was full of people watching that play, yet the pro-Falcon and pro-Husky allegiances will forever prevent a consensus ruling. That's fine, because it's time to move on.

The undeniable fact is calls like this happen. Some go your way, others negate big-time gains. It's part of sports, part of life, too. It's how you rebound that matters most.

WHAT WE LEARNED: WEEK ONE

Don't count out the champs

Maxwell coach Robert Wilson was conservative when asked about his team's chances to repeat this season.

He said not to expect "video-game numbers" and that his team was going to have to fight to win close games by slim margins.

That's funny, Wilson almost had us there for a second.

The defending Northern Section Division IV champions lambasted Colusa County rival Williams 45-0 on Friday, avenging their only loss from 2010.

A decisive victory over a D-III school is impressive, but the fact that the Panthers dominated with relatively new players in their first varsity starts is the real feat.

Junior quarterback George Barajas, who's replacing two-time A-D All Area QB Tyler Wells, threw three touchdown passes and rushed 55 yards for another. Unlike Wells, who was more of pure pocket passer, Barajas gives the Panthers that dual threat.

Replacing All Area wideout Steven Perry, senior Steven Powell hauled in touchdown receptions of 65 and 25 yards.

One holdover from last year's title team, senior tailback Brett Cabral, picked up where he left off as a junior and scored three times.

Defensively, the Panthers held the Yellowjackets to 73 yards of total offense.

Next up, Maxwell hosts Colusa (0-2), hoping to extend the RedHawks' losing streak to 14 games.

Running with the Lions

It's time for the Mid-Valley to meet Live Oak's new offensive attack: Earth, Wind and Fire.

That's the new label attached to the Lions' triple threat rushing attack of Luis Velasquez (Earth), Kirk Thao (Wind) and Justyn Harned (Fire).

The three backs combined for 376 yards rushing in the Lions' 56-22 season-opening victory at home over Colusa.

While all three deserve kudos, the outstanding play of Live Oak's offensive line should be recognized as well.

Anchored by seniors Steven Lair and Alex Martinez, the Lions' push up front opened gaping holes for all three backs on Friday night.

Though junior quarterback Romario Acosta came up with the name for his running backs, he left the fourth classical element out of the equation which describes his own game — air.

Acosta was superb with his arm, completing 7 of 10 passes for 72 yards and two touchdowns. With the effectiveness of Live Oak's ground game, his arm wasn't needed all too much, but he delivered when asked to throw.

Acosta was also 3 for 3 on 2-point conversions.

After spending last year running the spread at the JV level, Acosta gives the Lions a passing threat they haven't had in years to go along with their renowned power running attack.

Will the real East Nicolaus please stand up?

The Spartans' two performances this season are on opposite ends of the spectrum.

Friday night's 44-6 rout at the hands of Rio Vista was ugly. The Rams put up 434 yards rushing against the Spartans' defense. This came a week after East Nic crushed Stone Ridge Christian 55-12.

The A-D's No. 1 small school has this week off before resuming its season against Biggs at Wahl Field on Sept. 16.

Was Stone Ridge that bad or is Rio Vista that good this season? It's going to take a few more games to get a real sense of where the Spartans stand.

QUICK HITS

• Yuba City's offensive woes continued on Saturday against Maria Carrillo.

After jumping out to an early 10-0 lead, the Honkers' stagnant offense (47 second-half yards) couldn't get anything going and committed three turnovers. This is the second straight week ball security issues have haunted Yuba City.

• Wheatland blasted Oroville 39-9 in its opener at Harrison Stadium Friday night.

Is that a real indicator of how this season will go? Consider this, Oroville is 2-29 in its last 31 games.

• After going into halftime tied 14-14 with Orland, Lindhurst allowed 21 unanswered points, a week after taking River Valley to the wire on the road.

• Gridley sophomore Emery Haddy got the call to start at quarterback in the Bulldogs' season opener at Willows on Friday.

He passed for 135 yards and a touchdown but also threw two interceptions in the 19-14 loss.

HELMET STICKERS

Offense: Pierce's Isaiah Garcia, senior, running back — The A-D's top special teams player last week, Garcia rushed for 204 yards and accounted for all of the Bears' touchdowns in a 21-3 victory at Hamilton, leading all Mid-Valley backs.

Defense: Pierce's Nate Smith, junior, defensive back — Taking care of things on the other side of the ball for Pierce, Smith picked off Hamilton three times in the victory.

Special Teams: Sutter's Trevor Carr, junior, nose guard — Carr bulldozed through the Falcons' line to block a punt in the second quarter of Friday night's game. He quickly recovered the ball in the end zone to extend the Huskies' lead to 35-6.

STAT OF THE WEEK: 73

It's the total yardage for Williams’ offense Friday after a night of being manhandled by Maxwell’s defense in a 45-0 defeat.

 QUOTABLE

“For a full year, 365 days. Marked on the calendar, circled,” Sutter coach Ryan Reynolds said. He was
discussing how long he and his team had been waiting for last Friday’s shot at redemption after losing 23-20 to River Valley last season.