It can be hard to translate regular season success to the playoffs, but Pierce had no problem doing just that on Friday. They walked away with a 33-22 victory over the Yreka Miners. The high-flying offensive performance was a huge turnaround for the Bears considering their ten-point performance the matchup before.
This one was won in the trenches and the lion's share of the credit has to go to Colin Dye and Nate Macintosh. Dye rushed for 64 yards and a pair of scores while Macintosh rushed for 62 yards and one TD.
Wins are hard to come by when you can't run the rock, something Pierce proved: they limited Yreka to a paltry 2.1 yards per carry. While two picked up at least five total tackles, Michael Acevedo stood above the rest. He picked up two sacks, forced one fumble, and made five total tackles (3.0 for loss). Pierce's ground attack was stronger, having averaged four.
Quin Stephens
| 11/14/25 vs Yreka | 2 |
| 11/07/25 vs Winters | 2 |
| 10/31/25 vs Durham | 1 |
| 10/24/25 @ Paradise | 1 |
| 10/10/25 vs Willows | 3 |
Pierce's defense didn't let Jerome Walker, get away unscathed either: they got into the backfield for five sacks. The heavy lifting was done by Acevedo and Quin Stephens, who racked up four sacks between them. Stephens has been hot, having posted at least one sack the last five times he's played. Pierce received some extra help from Rodrigo Velazquez, whose fumble return for a touchdown made for one of the most unforgettable moments.
Although Yreka took the loss, they still got scores from Abel Navarro and Noah Mannix.
Pierce's record now sits at 10-1. As for Yreka, their loss dropped their record down to 7-4.
Coming up, Pierce will challenge Gridley at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. The two teams have allowed few points on average (the Bears 10.4, the Bulldogs 9.5) so any points scored will be well earned. Yreka does not have any more games scheduled as of now.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
