Yuba Tough: Honkers improve to 3-0 with dominant line performance against Roseville

Yuba City High School coaches wear shirts with the words “Yuba Tough” on the front. Players wear the same branding on the back of their game pants.

It’s a culture. These Honkers are big and tough and will fly around the football field, hit you and then do it again.

That toughness starts with the Honkers offensive line unit of Justin Barnes, Noah Dunham, Noah Pineda, Jaiden Riley, Sebastian Shively and Carlos Sotelo. They helped the Honkers rush for 218 yards on 46 attempts in the 21-6 win over Roseville on Saturday afternoon in Placer County.

“It’s an attitude,” Yuba City coach Aaron Gingery said on what it means to be Yuba tough. “We have no kids with academic waivers. That’s awesome. Whether it’s in the classroom or community in our school, we want to strive to be the best. That’s what Yuba Tough is.”

He added, “(Our defense) will fly around and hit you. That’s what we stress. We put it on our shirts and on everything. If you pick up something from Yuba City, it’s going to say Yuba Tough on it. What you see out there, that’s Yuba toughness.”

That toughness starts in the weight room nicknamed “The Swamp” by their coach. It’s under the bleachers and is muddy year round.

Players have bought into their coach’s philosophy.

“You see the way our defense flies around,” Yuba City quarterback Mason Niccum said. “(We run the ball) in kind of an old fashion way I like to think. We are tough in the weight room and on grades. It’s more than just football. It’s a culture at our school and everyone is buying in.”

Niccum added, “The offensive line is a great group and they’re fun to be around. We are going to figure out something for sure (to reward them). They deserve something.”

Yuba City’s Dane Tedder rushed for 65 yards and had a 3-yard touchdown run, and Joaquin Porcayo rushed for 53 yards and also had a short touchdown. Keola Abreu rushed for 43 yards and Dorsey Sanders added 28. Sanders also had an interception on defense.

Yuba City led 7-0 at the end of the first, and Niccum’s 23-yard touchdown strike to receiver Issac Price made it 21-0 at the half.

Roseville’s score came on a 40-yard burst by Hunter Hatch midway though the third quarter. The Yuba City defense held Roseville to under 150 yards of offense.

The Tigers marched to the Yuba City 25 with five minutes left to play, but sacks by Vincent Gillespie, Ivan Martinez and Gilberto Vela and a big hit by Tre Henry on fourth down allowed Yuba City to get the ball back and run out the clock.

The Honkers are 3-0 with wins over River City, Pleasant Valley of Chico and Roseville. The defense has allowed 19 points.

“I don’t think you can lose a game (when your defense is giving up one touchdown a game,” Niccum said. “They’re a great group that loves to hit. They help our offense out a lot with interceptions and turnovers.

Yuba City and Roseville will have home games for the season finale Friday. Yuba City plays Inderkum and Roseville plays Bella Vista.

“I think the biggest thing that we accomplished in the short season is we took one of the best Yuba City High football teams in the history of our school and we showed our section how we play football,” Gingery said. “Next week will be hard. It’s the end of a lot of things. It’s the beginning of their life. It will be hard for me personally to say goodbye to kids I’ve grown so close to.”