The Timberjacks Took the Win Against the Tigers 

Hayfork won a thrilling game in Dunsmuir Friday night 42-40. It was a tale of two halves, with Hayfork falling behind 20-0 early and trailing 34-12 at the half.  

Dunsmuir scored on a 15-yard run in the first quarter and on 5 and 9 yard runs in the second quarter. All three scores were the result of miscues by the Hayfork punt team: 2 bad snaps, and one blocked punt. The Timberjacks got on the board with a 1-yard TD run by Aidan Lorton to cut into the Dunsmuir lead. (20 - 6)  Dunsmuir responded with a good kickoff return and a 25-yard TD run to bring the lead back to 20. (26 - 6) Hayfork scored on one play on their next drive, a 46-yard TD run by Devin Nanez to bring the score to 26-12. Dunsmuir ended the half with a 32-yard TD run.  

The second half was dominated by the Timberjacks. Nanez had a 1-yard TD run and followed up with the 2 point conversion to narrow the score to 34-20. Dunsmuir returned the kickoff for a touchdown and the Timberjacks were again down by 20. (40-20) Hayfork kept the ball on the ground, and finished the next drive with a 11-yard TD run by Kaden Lee. Nanez ran in the 2 point conversion and the score was now 40-28.  

The pivotal play of the game was an onsides kick by Trenton Haight that was recovered by Lorton near the end of the third quarter. Hayfork finished the extra possession with a 3-yard TD run by Lee. Nanez again ran in the 2 point play and it was a new ball game at 40-36.  Dunsmuir drove down to the Hayfork 10-yard line with 4:00 left in the game and the Timberjacks stopped the Tigers on 4th down as Haight made the tackle.  

The Hayfork offense took over from there and marched 90 yards on ten plays finishing the drive as Nanez scored on a 10-yard TD run as time expired giving the Timberjacks a huge comeback win: 42-40.

Nanez carried the ball 20 times for 190 yards and had three TDs and three 2 point conversion runs. Lee, playing in his first game, carried the ball 20 times for 114 yards and two TDs. Lorton carried the ball 16 times for 60 yards and 1 TD.  

On the defensive side of the ball, Lorton was dominant with 17 tackles (13 solo + 4 assists).  Nanez had 10 tackles (9 solo + 1 assist). Haight also had 10 tackles (5 solo + 5 assists).

“We made a lot of mistakes in the first half but the kids played hard the whole game. The second half was definitely fun to watch. They never gave up and I am extremely proud of their effort. We hope to clean up some mistakes on the special teams and we will take on the Big Valley Cardinals at home this Friday night at 6:00 p.m.” said Timberjack Coach Mike Miller.