Spartans explode in second half, roll RedHawks

Turnovers played a pivotal role as the Colusa High football team lost four fumbles in the second half, allowing East Nicolaus to turn a tight game into a lopsided win.

Trailing by a point at halftime, the Spartans exploded for 26 unanswered points in the second half and ran away from Colusa in a 38-13 victory at Wahl Field.

The Spartans (4-2, 1-0 Mid-Valley League) found the scoreboard first on a solid 68-yard drive on their second possession of the game. Standout quarterback Zach Schuler capped the march by hitting a wide open Francisco Silvas for an 11-yard TD pass, putting East Nic up 6-0.

Colusa (2-4, 0-1 MVL) answered back later in the first period on an 80-yard touchdown drive, capped by a short 1-yard plunge by Andrew Rodriguez. Fernando Amador booted the point-after kick and the RedHawks took a 7-6 lead.

Relying on a strong running game, the RedHawks were able to move the ball well throughout the first half and jumped ahead 13-6 when Rodriguez shook off a tackle in the backfield and juked three Spartan defenders en route to a slick 17-yard touchdown run.

However, Austin Scheiber scored on a 5-yard TD run with just 39 seconds remaining before the intermission to cut the lead to 13-12 before East Nic completely took over in the second half.

Colusa fumbled on its first three possessions of the third period to give the Spartans a surge of momentum they never relinquished.

Roman Anderson scored on a short touchdown run, and Schuler hit Wesley Morris in stride on a beautiful 21-yard TD pass to put East Nicolaus up 26-13 in the third period.

Jeffrey Limary added a score from 5 yards out and Silvas added a 1-yard plunge in the fourth quarter to complete the scoring for East Nicolaus.

Dylan Purbaugh had a fumble recovery for East Nic and Reca Rivera recovered a fumble for Colusa, who will travel to play 0-6 Esparto on Friday.