Marysville-Lindhurst rematch set

When Marysville High football coach Cullen Meyer said his team's goal entering the season was to win the Sac-Joaquin Section Division VI title, many Mid-Valley football fans had to chuckle.

After all, the Indians won all of two games in 2007 and entered the season without the services of leading rusher Houston Bolek, who was out with an injured knee.

But thanks to a strong offseason program and a group of dedicated players, the Indians are just one game away from reaching their goal.

Led by another dominant effort from its defense and 105 bruising rushing yards from fullback James Chandless, Marysville rolled over Le Grand, 14-0, on Friday night in the section semifinals at War Memorial Stadium.

The Indians' victory coupled with Lindhurst's 28-6 win at Mariposa sets the table for a championship game between the two local rivals next Friday in Marysville.

"Smash-mouth football is what we do," said Chandless, who also spearheaded the Indians' defense from his middle linebacker position. "The offensive line did a great job blocking, and there was no individuals, just a whole team effort."

The Indians (9-2) took the lead for good five minutes into the game when big-play cornerback Matt Horsfall picked off Le Grand quarterback Martin Alvarez's first pass attempt and returned it 36 yards down the right sideline for a touchdown.

Although the point-after kick failed, the Indians led 6-0.

The rest of the first half belonged to the Marysville defense, which limited the Bulldogs to just two yards of total offense and no first downs before the intermission.

"They were really predictable on offense and moved guys to certain spots on different plays," Meyer said. "Our linebacking corps did an outstanding job tonight and timed their blitzes really well."

Marysville got a big break late in the second quarter when Garrett Townsend pounced on an Alvarez fumble to give the Indians great field position at the Bulldogs' 41-yard line.

The Indians wasted no time taking advantage of the turnover and quickly moved into scoring range when sophomore running back Mike Barabin took a screen pass from quarterback Chant DeForest and rumbled down the left sideline for a gain of 35 yards.

Two plays later, Chandless found paydirt from 4 yards out and fullback Leo Diaz added the two-point conversion to give Marysville a 14-0 halftime lead.

"At this time of the season, you have to be sound in all three aspects of the game. You can't have turnovers at this level and the two we had killed us," Le Grand coach Rick Martinez said. "I've got to give credit to Marysville though. They have some tough kids."

Le Grand finished 7-5.

While the Indians' offense had difficulty moving the ball in the second half, the two-touchdown lead was more than enough. The Marysville defense limited the Bulldogs to 48 yards after halftime and never let the visitors move the ball inside the 35-yard line.

Chandless carried the load offensively by bowling over would-be tacklers all evening to finish with 105 yards on just 13 carries and the touchdown.

"He's a hard-nosed runner, but he's gotten a lot faster this year," Meyer said of Chandless. "He's been able to turn those eight-yard runs into 20-25 yard runs."

Up next for Marysville is the section championship game and a familiar foe in the Blazers, whom the Indians beat 21-14 three weeks ago in their regular-season finale.

"There's no secrets between the two programs," Meyer said.