Here’s a recap of how each Basin football team fared this week.
*Note: Lost River and Crosspoint Christian had byes
Tulelake 55, Butte Valley 8 (Thursday)
Click here to read our recap of the Fair Bowl.
Mazama 55, Klamath Union 24 (Thursday)
Click here to read our recap of Canal Bowl 46.
Henley 34, Lakeview 6
Henley (1-0) had a lot of question marks entering its season opener against 3A Lakeview (0-1) Friday with only four starters returning on each side of the ball from a team that went 13-0 and won the 4A title.
By the end of the game, the Hornets seemingly replaced many of those question marks with check marks.
In his first game succeeding 2023 4A Offensive Player of the Year Logan Whitlock (now at Southern Oregon) as the team’s primary running back, junior Jeremiah Brunick rushed for 130 yards and one touchdown on nine carries.
In his first game without the two receivers who combined to catch 66% of his passes last season (honorable mention all-state honorees Luke Bennett and Chris Janney), junior quarterback Joe Janney completed 13-of-20 passes for 178 yards and four touchdowns while spreading the ball almost evenly to six different players. Three different players caught a touchdown.
In the first game for Henley’s reorganized offensive and defensive lines, which returned just one starter each, the Hornets did not allow a sack and outgained the Honkers 408-146. Five players had tackles for loss, with senior Jason Kern and junior Luis Vengas each recording one sack.
Even the kicking game, which had a sizable hole to fill with the graduation of second team all-state selection Jaime Pizano, looked to be in great hands with senior Max Tobiasson (who also plays soccer at Henley); he recorded touchbacks on five of six kickoffs. Lakeview was able to break through the line and block his first two PAT attempts, but he later made two when given adequate protection.
Things weren’t entirely positive for the Hornets, especially in the first half.
The Honkers executed a reverse pass on the first play of the game, with senior receiver Miles Maxwell hitting senior running back Zaryk Winters for a 21-yard gain. The Henley defense only allowed one more yard on the drive and Vengas came up with a sack to force a punt, but Janney threw an interception to senior linebacker Redden Lym six plays later to give Lakeview the ball at its own 14-yard line. From there, the Honkers embarked on a 20-play, 86-yard scoring drive that included a trio of fourth-down conversions and ended when junior quarterback Kollin Tacchini ran in a 2-yard touchdown.
With 6:31 remaining in the first half, the Hornets trailed 6-0 (Vengas blocked Tacchini’s PAT attempt).
“We came out a little soft,” Henley head coach Matt Green said. “We had guys that were out of alignment, not squeezing, [and] not doing what they were supposed to do.”
It only took one play for the Hornets to seize the momentum, though. Starting with the ball on his own 35-yard line, Janney handed it off to Brunick, who went left, found a hole, and raced up the sideline to tie the game.
Aided by a personal foul for illegal helmet contact on the ensuing kickoff, Henley forced a three-and-out. Five plays after getting the ball back at the Lakeview 43-yard line, Janney fired a dart to senior Mark Carpenter for a 3-yard touchdown to put the Hornets up 12-6 with 1:55 to go.
Henley wasn’t done yet, forcing another three-and-out to regain possession with 1:19 left. Four plays later, Janney hit Brunick on a wheel route for a 26-yard touchdown to extend the Hornets’ lead to 19-6.
Receiving the second half kickoff, Henley scored a touchdown on its fourth straight possession when Janney found Carpenter again from 7 yards out. On the ensuing PAT, Janney misplaced the hold but quickly picked up the ball and evaded a pursuing Maxwell to find Carpenter in the back left corner of the endzone for a 2-point conversion, making it a 27-6 lead for the Hornets with 8:45 left in the third quarter.
The last points of the game came 6:15 later, when a coverage bust allowed Janney to hit Conner Shively for a 41-yard touchdown.
“We could have done better in the first half,” Janney said. “We responded really well [and] overcame adversity…[with] how we handled ourselves in the second half, I think we did just fine.”
Shively led the Hornets with three receptions for 71 yards and one touchdown, followed by Brunick with two receptions for 51 yards and one touchdown and Carpenter with three receptions for 25 yards and two touchdowns. Carpenter had 12 receptions and one touchdown in the entire 2023 season.
Defensively, Janney and Roanin Wright tied for the team lead with seven tackles (six of Janney’s tackles were solo). With time winding down in the fourth quarter, senior Christian Shirar forced a fumble that was recovered by classmate Easton Conner, giving Henley its first forced turnover of the season.
For Lakeview, Tacchini completed 4-of-11 passes for 20 yards and ran for 43 yards and one touchdown on 24 attempts. Lym led the Honkers’ ground game with 45 yards on 11 carries.
Both teams play at 7 p.m. Friday; Henley travels to Marist Catholic (2-0) for a state championship rematch, while Lakeview hosts Modoc (CA) (1-1) in its home opener.
Illinois Valley 38, Bonanza 14
Bonanza’s (0-1) 320 yards of offense weren’t enough to get a win over 2023 2A quarterfinalist Illinois Valley (1-0) in its 9-player football debut Friday.
“We made some mistakes on both sides of the ball, but nothing we cannot fix,” Bonanza head coach Kelly Greif said. “The game was a lot closer than the score indicates.”
Sophomore quarterback Colby Medeiros completed 8-of-18 passes for 115 yards and one touchdown, while classmate Isaac Noble finished with six receptions for 147 yards and one touchdown. Senior running back Tristan McGann had 105 yards on 15 carries and added two receptions for 26 yards and one touchdown.
For Illinois Valley, junior running back Tanner Brazil had 118 rushing yards and one touchdown and 110 receiving yards and one touchdown.
Both teams play at 7 p.m. Friday; Bonanza travels to Sutherlin High School to face Gaston (1-0), another 2023 2A playoff team, while Illinois Valley hosts defending 2A champion Lowell (0-1).
North Douglas 80, Chiloquin 24
Injuries and cramps plagued Chiloquin (0-1) in a season-opening 1A[8] Special District 1 matchup, forcing the Panthers to rely on inexperienced backups to stop North Douglas’ (1-0) powerful run game and put points on the board.
“That resulted in lots of missed blocking duties, defensive assignments, missed tackles, dropped balls on catch attempts and playing guys in a multitude of positions they were unfamiliar with,” Chiloquin head coach Brandon Hoaglen said.
The Panthers’ 80 points allowed were their most since at least 2012.
“We’ve got to shake off that scaredness of hitting an opposing team,” Hoaglen said. “In practice, we are quick to hit our own guys, and that needs to translate into gameday.
“Overall, I am proud of these guys and extremely proud of the second unit who stepped up and filled their role to the best of their abilities.”
Sophomore quarterback Lalan Wilder finished with 222 rushing yards and three touchdowns. He also caught a 15-yard scoring pass from freshman tight end Denver Bravo. Sophomore Dilen Black had three receptions for 23 yards.
For North Douglas, junior running back Hunter Vaughn rushed for 289 yards and five touchdowns on seven carries.
Both teams play at 7 p.m. Friday; Chiloquin travels to Glendale (0-1) for another SD1 matchup, while North Douglas hosts a non-league game against Country Christian (0-1), which is reviving its football program after more than a decade this season.
