Yuba football wins opener; Faith soccer takes tourney

Running back Juan Johnson had two rushing touchdowns, former Sutter High standout Jon Garcia threw a touchdown pass to Wheatland's David Wilson and the Yuba College football team opened its season with an impressive 18-16 victory at San Jose City College on Saturday.

San Jose moved the ball down to Yuba's 2-yard line with 2 minutes remaining in the game, however, the 49ers' defense came up with a goal-line stand to maintain the lead.

Yuba then ran three running plays to work the clock down before purposely taking a safety with 30 seconds left. The 49ers then recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff and ran out the clock to earn the win.

Johnson scored on touchdown runs of 10 and 3 yards and Garcia threw a 1-yard TD pass to Wilson for Yuba, which led 12-7 at the half and never trailed in the game.

Juan Castillo recorded a sack and James Thurston picked off a pass to lead the Niners' defense.

HIGH SCHOOL

BOYS SOCCER

Faith Christian claim tourney

The Lions' strong start continued this weekend, as the squad improved to 8-0 and captured first-place honors and the Big Valley Christian Tournament.

Faith topped Right of Passage 4-0 with a hat trick from Blake Lavin and a score from Justin Glenn and followed it up with a 3-1 win over Venture Academy thanks to Skylar Ripley's hat trick.

To take the tourney title, Faith won in penalty kicks after a 2-2 stalemate with Denair in regulation and overtime. Ripley and Spencer Iskikian scored for the Lions.

VOLLEYBALL

Wheatland takes third

Strong play from team MVPs Jamie Adams and Kirstin Johnson helped the Pirates to a third-place finish at the 28th annual Elmeretta Brown Invitational in Durham.

The Pirates topped Las Plumas (25-16, 23-25, 15-9), fell to Willows (25-22, 25-11), then rebounded with a victory over Durham (25-23, 23-25, 15-9) on Saturday to finish strong.

Adams had 96 assists and 10 kills in the tournament and Johnson compiled 36 kills, six blocks and seven aces. Kristen Keys had 30 kills and six aces and Kiley DeCoster had 21 kills, six aces and three blocks.

On Friday, the Pirates beat Biggs (25-19, 25-23) and Lincoln (25-23, 25-22) before falling to Willows (25-12, 17-25, 15-12) in pool play.

Sutter competes in Chico

The Huskies finished with a 2-6 overall record a two-day tournament at Pleasant Valley High school.

On Saturday in the Silver Bracket, Sutter topped Del Norte 25-16, 25-16 before falling to Andrew Hill 25-23, 25-22.

Katelynne Cavalli had 29 kills, 19 blocks and 19 service points and Bianca Almeida had 23 kills, 20 digs and six blocks for Sutter. Angela DeHaan (23 kills), Kristy Morehead (12 kills, six blocks) and Kylee Sallaberry (98 assists) also contributed for Sutter.

TENNIS

Honkers win Fresno Tournament

The Yuba City High girls tennis team had a strong showing at the Fresno Tournament on Friday and Saturday by taking first in the 16-team Division IV bracket.

Yuba City opened the tournament with a 2-1 record during Friday's matches and followed that up with a perfect 2-0 mark on Saturday. The Honkers then swept Merced 6-0 in the championship match.

The Honkers were led by No. 1 player Hannah Poukish, No. 2 Sophie Poukish and No. 3 Rumyn Purewal in singles play. In doubles, Yuba City saw wins from the No. 1 team of Amanda Perry and Krissy Kent, No. 2 team Kendell Cheim and Anisha Gill and the No. 3 tandem of Angelina Rabalcalba and Maria Moreno.

Rachel Covey also chipped in for the doubles teams.

CROSS COUNTRY

River Valley runs well in Rosemont invite

The Falcons' boys varsity team took third place out of 15 teams at the Wolverine Cross Country Invitational at Rosemont High school.

Swarnjit Boyal led the way on the 2.2-mile course, clocking a time of 11 minutes, 21 seconds and finishing second. Shahrukh Anwer (19th, 12:26), David Streeter (21st, 12:28), Jacob Clayton, (28th, 12:42) and Andres Quijas (43rd, 13:17) also ran well for River Valley.

The varsity girls finished fourth of out five teams. They were led by sophomore Leanne Jarvis' second-place finish (13:21). Laila Khan ran an 18:20 and finished 40th.

The frosh-soph boys took first place as a team, and were led by Amrit Boyal's third-place finish (12:32). Andre Titus (6th, 12:49) and Inderpreet Singh (16th, 13:35) also ran well.

The frosh-soph girls were led by Harkiren Everest (3rd, 15:03) and finished fourth as a team.