PLAYOFF ROUNDUP: Pierce thumps Durham; Live Oak battles Central Valley

Senior running back Andy Corona rushed for 153 yards and two touchdowns and the Pierce High defense held Durham to 41 yards of total offense after three quarters en route to a convincing 37-12 first-round win at Gregg LeMaster Field in the Northern Section Division III Playoffs.

Adolfo Ramirez added two rushing TDs as the top-seeded Bears (11-0) built a 37-0 lead before giving up a couple of late scores with a running clock.

Hayden Kalfsbeek also had a TD on the ground and Nate Smith connected with Victor Santailalan on a 45-yard aerial strike to account for the other Pierce scores.

Central Valley 40, Live Oak 26

In Shasta Lake — The No. 7 Lions gave an inspired effort in their first appearance in Division II but fell to the No. 2 Falcons.

Live Oak and Central Valley were tied 7-7 at halftime.

Romario Acosta ended his high school career on a high note with 197 yards passing and three touchdown passes. He also rushed for 81 yards and returned a kickoff 63 yards for a score.

Tyler Raymond caught two of those Acosta touchdown passes and ended his night with 148 yards receiving. Aaron Pammas had a touchdown catch and 86 yards receiving.

The Lions finish the year with a 7-4 overall record.

CV will face West Valley in the semifinals next week.

Willows 41, East Nicolaus 14

In Willows — The No. 5 Spartans were ousted in the first round of the Division III Northern Section playoffs by the No. 4 Honkers.

Willows (7-4) led 34-0 going into the fourth quarter. Andrew Sills and Roman Anderson both had rushing touchdowns for East Nicolaus (6-5).

Willows will face Pierce next week in a rematch of last year's section semifinal.

Modoc 48, Colusa 22

In Alturas — The No. 6 RedHawks made the long journey to the northeast corner of the state, but came up empty against the No. 3 Braves in the Division III bracket.

Andrew Rodriguez, Conner Herrick and Ryan Abele all scored touchdowns in the loss for Colusa, which ended the year with a 5-6 overall record.

American Canyon 37, River Valley 8

In American Canyon — The Falcons' first playoff appearance in school history was a rough one as the No. 13 seed fell to the No. 4 Wolves.

River Valley's (6-5) only score came late in the fourth quarter on a 33-yard run by Bruce Anderson III. Dewey Maxham added a 2-point conversion.

Orland 33, Wheatland 0

In Orland — The Pirates' season came to end after falling to the Trojans in a Northern Section Division II playoff opener.

All Wheatland could muster against Orland's stout defense was 120 yards rushing, mostly compiled by Austin Cooper.

With the loss, Wheatland finished 7-4 overall.

Maxwell 35, Burney 14

In Maxwell — Tied 14-14 at the half, the Panthers scored three touchdowns in the third quarter to cruise past Burney down the stretch in a Northern Section Division IV playoff opener.

George Barajas passed for 152 yards and rushed for 106 yards with three touchdowns to help push Maxwell (8-3) into the semifinals where the Panthers will face off against Portola.

Luis Rolon rushed for 168 yards and two touchdowns, while Fabian Rolon and Zach Troughton each recorded a sack.