Prep football: Sutter thumps Colfax as the Huskies continue to make noise
The Sutter Huskies might be new to the Sac-Joaquin section, but they aren’t strangers to winning.
The new kids on block continued their strong start to the season in their new conference, thumping Colfax on Friday night 42-6 on the road for their second victory since joining the Pioneer Valley League.
They improved to 6-0 on the season and have outscored their opponents, 264-12. Their win Friday came a week after beating Marysville 35-0 in their section debut.
“Well they’ve been huge because we are new and there’s a lot of uncertainty,” head coach Ryan Reynolds said about his first two games in league. “We’re the new kid on the block. So we didn’t know quite what to expect, and we’ve been in the Northern Section for an eternity, so we knew everybody by heart. It was new and exciting and fun to come in and have these new teams and nuances and try to learn about them.”
Sutter comes to its new digs with an impressive history. The Huskies haven’t lost a league game since 2014 and had been a power in the Northern Section, winning six titles from 2012 to 2020.
The Huskies ran for 355 yards, with zero passing yards, and got two touchdowns from impressive junior running back Joshua Gregor. He had 91 yards on just six carries. And at 6-foot-3 and 215 pounds, took multiple defenders to bring down.
Reynolds in his postgame address to his team highlight the unselfishness of his players to carry the load by committee.
“That’s very important, because we have so many running backs, so many talented people on this team,” Gregor said. “So if someone gets out like Landon last game, we have plenty of people that will step up and not be selfish and just worry about winning the game and not their stats.”
Fellow running backs Robbie Faupula, Brody Hicks, Luke Miller and receiver Andrew Center also scored rushing touchdowns.
Miller had been the team’s starting quarterback but switched to running back this week because senior running back Landon Sable was lost last week to a broken collar bone. Miller finished with 72 yards on seven carries.
“He’s just a great runner,” Reynolds said. “And so just told him, ‘hey, you’re going to have to step up and do a lot of different things for us. He said, ‘it’s fine coach, whatever this team needs.’ So that’s pretty awesome. Very unselfish.”
The scoring for Sutter started at the end of their first defensive possession when they blocked a punt into the end zone and fell on it for a touchdown. Colfax made it a 7-6 game on Malachi Thompson’s five-yard score on a screen pass to the right, but that was about all the offense the Falcons could muster against the Huskies’ physical and disciplined defense.
The game was 14-6 at halftime, but Sutter outscored the home team 28-0 after the break. The Huskies often outclass their opponents in second halves because none of their players play both ways, including their stars.
“If you look at the box scores, you’ll notice the of our scoring happens in the second half,” Reynolds said. “Our dudes, they’re fresh they’re hungry. It’s something that we committed to 22 years ago. And it was a big decision we made, and went all in.
“It’s helped our numbers in our program. We get a lot of freshmen, JV players out, and when kids get up to varsity they know we have 22 starters, and all the backup guys play. So we get big squads because kids know there’s opportunity to get on the field.”
Sutter will play its third league game next week as the Huskies travel to play Bear River in Grass Valley before their homecoming game against Center Oct. 7. Colfax (3-2) next week travels to play Marysville.
This story was originally published September 23, 2022 at 11:59 PM.
