VARSITY FOOTBALL 

The varsity football team secured a spot in the playoffs two weeks ago with its 57-0 blowout win against the Bella Vista Broncos. Since then, the Tigers focus has been on continuing to win in order to fight for a better seeding in the postseason and to possibly be in a good enough position to host a playoff game.

Last Friday, this motivation pushed them to overcome the Whitney Wildcats, who were previously undefeated in league play, with a score of 35-14. The Wildcats led the Tigers 7-6 late in the first half when senior quarterback Nick Martig launched a pass into the corner of the end zone where senior tight end Jimmy Jaggers, who caught the pass with one hand, was waiting.

The team then decided to attempt a two-point conversion pass to Jaggers, which was also successful, giving them a 14-7 lead at halftime. In the second half, the offense scored three touchdowns and pulled away from the Wildcats for the win.

“Every game is a big one,” Jaggers said. “But this one definitely felt bigger because of playoffs in mind and the opportunity to host a [playoff] game.”

Looking ahead to playoffs, the boys feel confident in their abilities. With the exception of their game against the still undefeated Antelope Titans, the boys have excelled on the offensive and defensive side of the ball.

Sitting at 7-1 overall, they have the second best offense and defense in the entire Capital Valley Conference in terms of statistics, having scored 283 points and only allowing 133. These numbers display why they are ranked second in the CVC standings, sitting only behind the Titans.

Although excited for the postseason, Jaggers is cautious about looking too far ahead. He said that it is more beneficial to focus on the end of the season game-by-game, trying to rack up another win each week. Even so, he believes in the team’s ability to continue its success.

“We have a really tight-knit group and I think our success this year has added to our confidence and our bond,” Jaggers said. “We all trust each other to get the job done and that allows us to focus on winning as a team.”

The Tigers next game is this Friday at Ponderosa High School against the 2-6 Bruins.

–George Hughes

VARSITY GIRLS GOLF 

The varsity girls golf team has reached the playoffs for the second year in a row, rounding out league with an important first place finish in the final Capital Valley Conference league tournament of this season last Monday.

The Tigers entered the tournament tied for first place with the Whitney Wildcats and had to beat them outright in order to claim the sole first place spot atop the CVC leaderboards. The girls did just that, edging out the Wildcats by 13 strokes by a score of 466-479.

Coach Corey Fukuman praises the girls’ efforts throughout the 18 hole match.

“The girls deserve a ton of credit as scores were high and they hung in there under pressure,” Fukuman said.

The win also granted the girls their second consecutive league title banner. However, the team still has a ways to go in order to surpass last year’s achievement of reaching the Sac-Joaquin Section Masters tournament.

The girls compete in the SJS Division II tournament today at Eagle Vines Golf Club against teams from the Tigers’ division, including the Whitney Wildcats and the Ponderosa Bruins, who finished in second and third place in the CVC, respectively.

A win today would be the first step on the road to a section banner, the girls’ next goal, and senior golfer Kayla Kwong, who was awarded with ‘CVC Most Valuable Player’ for the second year in a row, believes that consistency will be key to the girls’ success.

“We are just going to try to keep shooting what we have been shooting and just try to stay consistent with all of our scores,” Kwong said.

Although they have been playing well recently, finishing first in the tournament and winning their last two dual matches with some of their lowest scores of the season, Kwong recognizes that the girls will have to post even better scores in order to advance far into the postseason.

“We would have to lower our average by a lot, but it’s definitely possible,” Kwong said. “We were really close last year.”

Fukuman said that the girls’ ultimate goal is to advance to the state tournament as a team, or at least send individuals through, but for now they are focusing on today’s tournament.

–Brandon Del Rosario

GIRLS VOLLEYBALL 

The girls volleyball team is currently tied for second place in the Capital Valley Conference with the Cosumnes Oaks Wolfpack and has a playoff spot in their sights.

The Tigers played Whitney High School last Monday, handing the Wildcats their first league loss of the season in four sets in a very crucial win. Their chances of making the playoffs are high, but everything depends on their final two league matches.

Tonight, the girls take on the Ponderosa Bruins, who are currently tied with the Bella Vista Broncos for third place, and if all goes well it will guarantee the Tigers a trip to the postseason.

Junior setter Jessica Donahue feels that the team has been playing well and will need to continue to do so in order to move on into the postseason.

“[We need to] keep doing what we are doing against really good teams,” Donahue said. “We are having a lot of talking and we are all doing our jobs and playing as a team and not individuals.”

-Karli Dugger and Kylie Irwin

GIRLS XC 

The girls cross country team will compete in the sub-section event this Friday. Depending on how they do, the entire team and specific individuals have a chance to go to sections.

The team consists of approximately 30 athletes, which is down from previous years. Senior runner Maddie Meade believes that the team has been able to overcome the lack of runners due to their increasing levels of performance in its recent events.

According to Meade, the team has a good chance to advance to sections and possibly even further.

“Everyone has been performing well and everybody has been training hard and setting their personal records,” Meade said.

–Nolan Frame

BOYS XC 

The boys cross country team will compete in the subsections event this Friday in order to determine whether the team, or individuals from the team, will advance through to the sections event.

Senior varsity runner Ellis Shaw has seen vast amounts of development in the boys’ times and running abilities since the beginning of the season.

“I think this cross country season has been full of improvement and everybody has been making progress,” Shaw said.

According to Shaw, the fact that the team experiences various types of running courses during practices has helped them this season and will hopefully help them advance on to sections.

“I think our variety of practice locations gives us different types of terrain to run on,” Shaw said. “Everybody works hard at practice.”

Shaw is one of the team’s top runners and is confident that the Tigers will be able to send a few individual runners to sections.

–Jackson Esparza

BOYS POLO 

The boys varsity water polo team’s league season has come to an end. The boys ended their league season with a record of 3-4 and an overall record of 13-14.

The team has an opportunity to extend their record to 14-14 tomorrow afternoon against the Kennedy High School Cougars.

Junior goalie Peter Edmondson believes that the team had a good season and successfully set a good foundation for next year.

“We had a solid season and have built a solid program for our school,” Edmondson said. 

 -Kylie Irwin

GIRLS POLO 

The varsity girls water polo team came up short of their playoff goals this season, finishing Capital Valley Conference league play in fifth place, with a record of 3-3 with wins over Ponderosa, Antelope and Del Campo.

The girls currently have an overall record of 9-13 and will have an opportunity to advance to 10-13 if they get a win against Kennedy High School in their final game of the year tomorrow.

Coach Paul Stewart believes that although their record may not show it, the girls had a successful season with a few close games in which they were just edged out by their opponents. He looks forward to next year and believes that this year’s youth will step up to lead the team. 

-Kale Jibson 

GIRLS TENNIS 

After two tight wins over the Ponderosa Bruins and the Oakmont Vikings last week, the girls tennis team has secured a spot in playoffs. The girls won both of last week’s matches 5-4 and concluded league play at 9-5 in third place, behind the Whitney Wildcats and the Bella Vista Broncos, who finished first and second, respectively.

Impressively, the girls recorded a total of three 9-0 shutouts in league play. Junior Hailey Jensen is confident as the team enters the postseason, which begins on Oct. 31 when the team faces Mira Loma.

“After working hard all season I think we’ll do very well,” Jensen said. “We’re not just going to go to playoffs and give up. We’re going to use all of our work to succeed and pull through and potentially beat Whitney, who is our hardest competition.”

-Elena Bateman and Emily Wright