COS-Shasta rivalry lives up to reputation
By Rob McCallum

In a close football game, the final margin is often the sum of many plays over the course of four quarters, all equally important. But Scotty Yerges' play is going to stand out among all others in College of the Siskiyous' 30-26 win over Shasta College. The sophomore defensive back picked off a Knight pass in the final seconds, ending a valiant comeback bid Saturday night in Redding.
The Eagles mobbed Yerges as he came off the field and they escaped with an important win over archrival Shasta in the season finale. "That makes it like 25 interceptions for us this year," coach Eric Young said. "It was a heck of a football game. Shasta played tough, but our players came up with some big plays at the end."
After erasing a 17-point second-half deficit, Shasta had the ball and momentum at the COS 21-yard line with a minute to play. That's when the Knights tried a trick play; a wide receiver pass off a lateral, that went right into Yerges' hands at the goal line.
"We knew they were going to run some kind of trick play," said Yerges, who had another interception in the game to finish the season with 10. "I was just thinking "stay deep" and there it was."
The visiting sideline breathed a sigh of relief with the interception, minutes after watching Shasta quarterback Chad Cavender nearly guide his team to the comeback. The hometown favorite came off the bench in the second half and scrambled for two touchdown runs in the fourth quarter.
The Eagles couldn't run out the clock on their ensuing possession and had to punt. But a bad snap went out of the hands of punter Corey O'Neill and the Knights recovered as the home crowd went wild.
"We knew we just had to stay focused on the task at hand," Yerges said. "At that point we just had to dig in deep."
Lost in the late-game heroics was a career performance from tailback Alex Gaston in his final game for COS. Gaston added to his school-record rushing total with 250 yards on 44 carries. Gaston gave the Eagles their first lead with a one-yard touchdown run in the first quarter and added another score in the second from four yards out to put COS up 20-6.
Siskiyous received an unexpected boost from freshman receiver Chaz Thompson, who gained 106 yards rushing and two touchdowns. Virtually all of those came on the same wide receiver sweep play.
"I never thought I'd see 100 yards rushing, but whatever we have to do," said Thompson, who also caught a 17-yard pass. "I love when we run that play and I gotta say that our offensive line blocked great, When the defense shifted for it, the O-line and fullback would adjust."
The Gaston-Thompson combination accounted for all 72 yards of a momentum-shifting drive that spanned the first and second quarters. Sophomore linebacker Jared Kuhl sacked Shasta's Jefferson Hunsaker while trying to convert a fourth down on the COS 21. Gaston then had rushes of 34 and 19 yards to put the ball at the Knight 18. After several penalties and short runs, Thompson finished the drive off with a 19-yard touchdown run on fourth down.
The Eagles would add a field goal in the first half that proved to be crucial. The Knights failed on two point-after kicks; one hit the left upright, the other was blocked and nearly returned for a safety. Those pratfalls, coupled with O'Neill's 42-yard field goal that was just over the cross-bar, made for a five-point swing.
For much of the game, the COS defense flexed its muscle and came up with drive-ending plays. In addition to Yerges' two picks, Miguel Gonzalez, Eric Lindley and James Carraway also picked off Shasta passes. The Eagles also recorded four sacks for a total of 34 yards lost.
"We have a saying that we like to put seven butts on the ball and tonight that theme paid off," said sophomore defensive end Edison Robertson, who had two sacks. "I didn't get to play Shasta last year, so I came in with a mindset of playing one of the best games at College of the Siskiyous ever."
The win made for a positive end to a tumultuous 2005 season, in which the Eagles got off to 0-4 and 1-7 starts. But in defeating their archrivals and College of the Redwoods on November 5th, COS now has three wins and regional bragging rights.
"It's been a tough season but we can enjoy this," Yerges said. "These are the ones we remember."