PREP ROUNDUP: Falcons soccer continues historic run

The River Valley High soccer team continued to make history on Thursday afternoon, but unlike Monday's 4-0 victory over El Camino, round two had the Falcons holding their breath.

The No. 6 Falcons played No. 3 Patterson to a 0-0 draw through extra time in the second round of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division III playoffs and needed penalty kicks to decide which team would advance.

After 110 minutes of soccer, the Falcons are moving on.

River Valley (11-2-3) bested Patterson 5-4 in penalty kicks to escape Stanislaus County with the upset victory.

Even after a monumental victory like this, coach Abel Franco kept the win in perspective.

"I told them we still have two more to go," Franco said. "It was very, very exciting and emotional. The best word to describe it is intense."

Hector Ramos, Castulo Carvajal, Jesus Garcia, Melad Rahim and Brandon Blancas all converted their penalty kicks for the Falcons, while goalkeeper Triston Montoya made a huge save to send RV to the next round.

The Falcons face No. 2 Rio Americano in the section semifinals on Wednesday in Sacramento. The winner of that game faces the winner of Manteca-Central Valley (Ceres) in the title game on Saturday, Nov. 10.

Franco also credited his defense for recording its second consecutive shutout in the playoffs. Garcia, Jose Mendoza and Alejandro Diaz were outstanding on the Falcons' back line.

VOLLEYBALL

Sutter 3, Orland 0

In Orland — The Huskies completed an undefeated Butte View League season with a 25-12, 25-8, 25-15 victory over the Trojans to clinch the program's 16th consecutive league title.

The win was the Huskies' 78th straight in league play.

Ava Payton had a big night for Sutter (21-7, 8-0) with 11 kills, four digs and a block. Erika Larsen added five kills with four blocks and Bianca Almeida had four kills.

Savannah Besso dished out 18 assists and Brooke Smallwood amassed a team-high 15 digs to go with 10 service points.

Alix Russell had 21 service points and an ace, while Kylee Sallaberry made five digs.

The Huskies will find out their playoff fate today when the Northern Section releases its playoff brackets.

Sutter's JV team (8-0) also completed a perfect BVL run with a 23-25, 25-19, 15-13 win over Orland. Bailey Brown and Taylor Cooper recorded seven kills each and Chloe Heape made 13 assists.

The Huskies' frosh squad beat Orland 25-21, 25-8 and finished its season 20-5.

Gridley 3, Wheatland 2

In Wheatland — Ashtyn MacFarlane tallied 18 kills and five blocks, Megan Anthony added 10 kills and 10 digs, and the Bulldogs slipped past the Pirates in five sets to earn a BVL victory in both teams' regular season finale.

Game scores were 25-22, 14-25, 14-25, 25-22 and 15-12.

Maddie Mardesich and Vanessa Ramirez dished out 22 assists each, Catherine Roman had 21 digs and Claira Hunter chipped in with 13 digs for Gridley (16-15, 4-4).

No information was provided by Wheatland, which slipped to 5-3 in the BVL with the loss.

FROSH FOOTBALL

Sutter 28, Oroville 0

In Oroville — Clay Carter threw a 39-yard touchdown pass to Logan Wurm and scored on a 4-yard TD run as the Huskies clinched the Butte View League title with a victory over the Tigers in their season finale.

Wurm also intercepted a pass and returned it 30 yards for a score, Jacob Gildea scored on a 70-yard touchdown scamper and Tanner Baroni booted a 43-yard field goal for Sutter, which ended the season at 7-3 overall and 3-0 in the BVL.

Carter, Claudio Martinez and Brendon Nelson also picked off passes in the win.