Prep football: Small school East Nicolaus makes a statement in win over Nevada Union
On paper, a school with 1,500 students should dominate a school with just over 300 when they meet on the football field. But that wasn’t the case when traditional power Nevada Union hosted East Nicolaus on Thursday night at picturesque Hooper Stadium.
East Nicolaus won in stunning fashion, thumping the home team 24-0, with all the scoring coming after halftime in Grass Valley.
“We’ve always felt like we were a good program and a good team,” East Nicolaus coach Travis Barker said. “I think a lot of people discount us a little bit because we are so small. But we can come and play.”
It was about physicality for the Spartans, who controlled the line of scrimmage and moved the ball with a diverse running attack. They overcame three first-half turnovers, and a lost fumble on the opening kickoff of the second half, to score touchdowns on three straight possessions in the third and fourth quarters that put the game away.
The defense forced the Miners to make a switch at quarterback midway through the game.
The Spartans ran up the middle with the triple option and also attacked the edges with jet sweeps to receivers.
“It’s something that we’ve designed over the last few years,” Barker said. “We have a lot of different threats that we try to make people have to practice against. If we can’t get you inside, we’ll try to get you outside, and if not we can throw the ball pretty well too. We didn’t much today.”
Two touchdowns were scored by athletic senior quarterback Ty Grigsby, and another by physical running back Rhett Risse. Grigsby’s came from 1 and 53 yards out. Risse’s came on a sweep to the left from the 12-yard line.
East Nicolaus improved to 3-1 on the season while Nevada Union dropped to 2-3 and has lost three of its last four.
A strong encapsulation of how things went for the road team: they converted all three two-point conversions with the same play, a run from big running back Sonny Pina, who also plays defensive line, right up the middle.
It was clear there was an emotional edge emanating from the visiting sideline, where the Spartans were fueled by their small-school perception.
“That’s everything that we worked for,” Grigsby said. “We knew we would be the underdog, they would overlook us. I’m just happy for our guys. We worked hard all week and it came through. It really showed.”
Risse was one of the most physical players on the field while playing both sides of the ball. His leadership, along with senior offensive lineman and linebacker Taco Mallow, was apparent in the team’s effort.
“(Risse) obviously is super physical. Great kid. Senior,” Barker said. “And (Mallow) is just a leader. That’s what he is. He’s one of those kids on both sides of the ball, very inspirational, tough kid. Really put in work and had a good offseason, just lifting hard, got strong, got a lot faster. The same with Risse. I’m really super happy with both of them.”
It was a game that wasn’t on either team’s initial schedule. It was supposed to be both teams’ bye week, but Nevada Union had its game against Colfax on Sept. 9 wiped out by smoke. East Nicolaus had an earlier opponent on its schedule forfeit for disciplinary reasons.
Nevada Union will likely be one of the most-talented teams on East Nicolaus’ schedule given the size of schools in the Sacramento Valley League. The Spartans are hoping the win proves they can punch above their weight — and remain a formidable team after getting to the second round of the playoffs last season, losing to Pierce of Arbuckle, 13-8.
“This win is huge for us,” Grigsby said. “We know this is going to be one of the biggest teams all year we play. We want to win league, obviously, section championship and make a run at the state title. That’s all I could ask for from this team.”
This story was originally published September 23, 2022 at 7:30 AM.
