By Kevin Askeland
MaxPreps.com
It was a record breaking night for Hamilton High School's Oscar Pineda. Trailing Durham 3-0 in the second quarter, Hamilton coach Mark Cooley asked his talented kicker to try a kick from the Trojans' 40-yard line. The boot easily carried through the uprights, giving Pineda a Northern Section record 57-yard field goal.
"It would have been good from 60 yards," said Cooley.
Pineda's kick beats the 54-yard field goal kicked by Nick Nelson of Sutter in 2003. Pineda's mark is the seventh-longest in state history, according to the Cal-Hi Sports Record Book. He is tied with seven other kickers for the spot on the list. The all-time record is 64 yards.
The MaxPreps Northern Section rankings are as follows: Division 1 - 1. Foothill (3-0), 2. Pleasant Valley (3-0), 3. Chico (3-0), 4. Paradise (2-1), 5. Lassen (1-2). Division 2 - 1. Sutter (3-0), West Valley (1-2), 3. Yreka (3-0), 4. Wheatland (2-1), 5. Gridley (1-2). Division 3 - 1. Hamilton (4-0), 2. Willows (3-0), 3. Durham (2-2), 4. Rio Vista (3-1), 5. Live Oak (1-2). Division 4 - 1. East Nicolaus (3-0), 2. Quincy (2-1), 3. Delta (3-0), 4. Esparto (2-2), 5. Modoc (1-2); Division 5 - 1. Maxwell (3-0), 2. Tulelake (2-1), 3. Fall River (2-0), 4. Hayfork (1-2), 5. Los Molinos (2-2).
Nick Lackey of Fall River scored five touchdowns and rushed for 227 yards for the Bulldogs in their 42-18 win over Portola. . . . Other big outings last week included Craig Lohse of Hamilton, who ran for 280 yards in a win over Durham. Lohse's effort marked the fourth consecutive week that he has improved his rushing total. Andrew McCleary of Wheatland upped his season total to 516 yards after a 190-yard effort against Lincoln. McCleary has runs of 82 and 73 yards this year. Those aren't even close to the longest run of his career, though. The Pirate senior is one of the few players in California history to have a 99-yard run on their resume . . . Suavae Cook has moved from wide receiver to running back this year under new head coach Rod Totton. Cook cruised for 177 yards against Colusa, including a 63-yard run. He has seven touchdowns on the season . . . Tyler Kormos of Willows, a junior running back/linebacker, had three touchdowns, all in the first half, in a 42-14 win over Orland. Kormos scored on two short runs and a 77-yard interception return as Willows took the lead in the overall series between the longstanding rivals, 42-41-1 . . . Josh King of Esparto moved to the top of the tackles list after getting 30 tackles against the Redskins last week. King has 76 tackles in four games this year.
The Eastern Athletic League gets interesting this week with a pair of big matchups. Paradise meets Pleasant Valley in a battle between a pair of Northern Section Division 1 semifinalists from last year. Meanwhile in Redding, Foothill takes on Enterprise. The Cougars got a big game from the Johnston brothers last week. Cole Johnston ran seven times for 105 yards and also threw for 85 yards in a 43-7 win over Central Valley. Johnston scored on a 50-yard run the first time he touched the ball. Meanwhile Kyle Johnston scored the first time he touched the ball, going 78 yards with the opening kickoff. In fact after one offensive play, the Cougars held a 16-0 lead just 44 seconds into the game thanks to the kickoff return, a safety by Casey Robertson and the 50-yard run.
Several Northern Section teams will be without their best players the rest of the season. Orland lost 6-foot-8, 300-pound tackle T.J. Torres to a back injury. He did not play a single down this year after suffering the injury in preseason practice. Meanwhile Willows junior linebacker Matt Candelaria played only the first half of the first game of the season before suffering a knee injury. A promising wrestler, Candelaria will miss the rest of football season and the entire wrestling season this year. In Sutter, linebacker Jordan Lewis, who led the Northern Section in tackles last year, is expected to miss his senior season after suffering a knee injury in preseason practice.