Sutter hosts NorCal bowl game at River Valley
Dec. 1—The Sutter Union High football team gets at least one more opportunity to play in front of its home fanbase Friday night when it hosts San Marin at River Valley in Yuba City in the Division 5-AA Northern California state bowl game.
Tickets are currently on sale and can be purchased solely online through the website https://gofan.co/app/school/CIF. Tickets for general admission cost $12 while children, students and seniors (65 and older) are $8 each. Game time Friday night is set for 7:30 p.m.
Sutter (10-1) is coming off an overtime win over Paradise, 34-31, to claim a Northern Section-best 14th championship at the Division III level.
The Huskies needed a late fourth-quarter drive to tie up the game and force overtime against the Bobcats. Sutter eventually won courtesy of a field goal in the extra session and championship-preserving interception.
San Marin (12-1) is fresh off its first North Coast Division V championship in 20 years after it shut out Del Norte, 36-0, last weekend — a win over a red-hot squad riding a 10-game win streak.
San Marin will look to be as balanced as possible with the ball in its hands, led by a bevy of receivers, each of whom made multiple catches last week, and 2,000-yard rusher Justin Guin.
Guin, a senior, has 2,072 yards and 32 touchdowns in 2021.
Sutter coach Ryan Reynolds compared San Marin's offense to Foothill, a team that the Huskies played and lost to 21-0 for its only loss of the season back on Sept. 17.
"It's a similar type offense (with) pistol, gun (sets)," Reynolds said. "It makes it very difficult (to contain)."
Reynolds said Sutter is fairly healthy at the moment outside of a few players who are out sick with a seasonal flu virus. He said that it is not COVID-related.
He should have a healthy roster come Friday.
"(The players) were excited after the win and the way it went down and excited to have an opportunity to get to host," Reynolds said.
Sutter will counter on Friday with its three-headed rush attack led by senior Nic Fisher, who went for 151 yards and a touchdown against Paradise. Junior Troy Brucie ran for 53 yards and a score, while junior Landon Sable added 34 and a touchdown.
The bigger story perhaps was the emergence of the Husky defense against Paradise. After trailing 21-14 at halftime, Sutter outscored Paradise, 20-7, in the second half to rally back and force its first overtime game in at least seven years.
Leighton Tarke led the way with 20 tackles, Brice Stokes came away with the game-preserving interception at the goal line in overtime and sophomore Eric St. Onge collected one-and-a-half sacks in the team's final Northern Section championship game at Wayne Gadberry Field.
Sutter and San Marin have not played each other since at least 2004.
Friday's Sutter-San Marin winner will host either Independence or Venice, who square off in the Southern California 5-AA regional championship Friday night in Venice.
Other NSCIF bowl games
In Division 4-A, Chico will meet Sacred Heart Cathedral at Kezar Stadium (San Francisco), beginning at 6 p.m. Saturday. In Division 5 — A, NSCIF Division IV champion University Prep will play at Sacred Heart Prep at 1 p.m. on Saturday. U-Prep won the NSCIF title over Pierce last week.
