Spartans falter in section final, lose 48-21
Coming into Saturday night’s Northen Section Division II championship game, Red Bluff coach Jacob Daricek knew that his team had to slow down the Pleasant Valley Vikings’ running game, or it might be a long evening. Unfortunately for the Spartans, the Viking’s running game dominated the game from the start in a 48-21 loss in its first section football final appearance in 25 years. “It’s a good football team. They’re really good, ” he said. “They’re strong and aggressive and they got after us pretty good.” From the outset, the Vikings attacked the Spartans on the ground, scoring the first touchdown on Lucas Benson’s 4-yard run with 9:47 left in the first quarter. After the Spartans went three and out on their opening drive, Brock Coleman scored on a 3-yard TD run to give the Vikings a 14-0 lead with 7:08 remaining in the first quarter. When the Spartans couldn’t respond on their second drive of the night, the Vikings got the ball back, and it looked like Pleasant Valley might score a third touchdown without the Spartans responding. But a poor punt, by the