Sutter-Paradise part II is Saturday

Jeff Larson, Appeal-Democrat, Marysville, Calif.
·3 min read

Nov. 27—The Sutter Union and the Paradise High football teams have won a combined 19 Northern Section championships in the last two decades.

The two schools are arguably the class of the NSCIF for the medium- and small-school levels.

Still, they have only played against each other once since 2004, and that was in the NSCIF Division III title game in 2019 — a 20-7 Sutter victory at River Valley High School in Yuba City.

The two powers renew their championship rivalry two seasons later again in the D-III title game at Sutter's Wayne Gadberry Field.

Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. tonight (Saturday).

Sutter, seeded No. 1 following a 7-1 regular season, has yet to relinquish a single point in the playoffs with back-to-back blowouts over Central Valley, 42-0, and Wheatland, 39-0.

No. 2 Paradise (9-1) has been equally dominant in the postseason, posting a pair of routs over Lassen, 63-6, and Orland, 49-6.

Sutter (9-1) looks for its section-high 14th title, while Paradise hopes for No. 7 — and first since 2011.

Sutter coach Ryan Reynolds said while he feels his squad is in a good place entering the section finale, Saturday will take "perfect execution to get over the hump."

It only took Sutter about a quarter to get rolling two years ago against Paradise, scoring a touchdown in the second, third and fourth quarter to close out the Bobcats.

The defense did the rest, holding run-heavy Paradise to just one third-quarter touchdown.

Reynolds is hoping for a similar blueprint this year against Paradise.

"To an extent, yes, we will look at (the) 2019 game," Reynolds said.

While its record may speak otherwise, Sutter's 2021 season has not been perfect. The team had two games canceled due to possible COVID-19-related transmission and other concerns among the program. The Huskies lost its Honor Bowl game in September, which would have given Sutter a solid early-season test against an out-of-section opponent.

"Road has been rocky to say the least," Reynolds said.

Paradise, meanwhile, had three games canceled due to COVID-related concerns, according to head coach Rick Prinz.

Key contributors for Paradise during its 2019 loss to Sutter were then sophomore Tyler Harrison (34 carries, 118 yards and a touchdown) and leading rusher Lukas Hartley, who ran for 130 yards.

Harrison is back this year and will likely be shouldering much of the load on the ground for Prinz and the Bobcats on Saturday.

For Sutter, it lost a lot from the 2019 victory, including leading rush and pass threat Cory Mcintyre and most of the team's top defensive threats that bottled up Paradise all night. Tonight Sutter will lean on top offensive threat, senior quarterback Trevor Eck, who replaces Landon Cooper under center, and a backfield loaded with capable ballcarriers that include leading rusher Nic Fisher (738 yards, eight TDs) Troy Brucie (520 yards, eight TDs and Landon Sable (333 yards, seven TDs).

Defensively. Joseph Martinez is Sutter's top tackler with 108 stops, while Leighton Tarke comes in No. 2 with 87 tackles on the year, according to MaxPreps.com.

NSCIF playoff tickets on sale

Tickets for the section finals are on sale at https://gofan.co/app/school/CIFNS. Prices are $10 for general admission, $5 for seniors (60 and above) and students with an ASB, and $15 for an unaccompanied K-8 student.