One week after emotional contests against their Upvalley rival Carpy Gang (St. Helena), the Calistoga Cubs football teams suffered no such letdown Sunday at Point Arena.

Both teams improved to 6-1 as the JV Cubs rebounded from their 14-13 loss to the Carpy Gang with a 30-27 win over Point Arena.

The varsity Cubs were a 31-12 winner over the Pirates one week after dominating the Carpy Gang 30-0.

“That was a concern with me,” Cubs varsity head coach Paul Harrell said. “I call it the hangover effect. There are a lot of things that can cause it, being on a high after a big win. I was concerned but they brought it all together. Now, they’ve got to do it again, because Cloverdale is one of the toughest teams in our league.”

The JV Cubs host Cloverdale Saturday at 5:30 p.m., while the varsity game kicks off at 7:30.

Here’s a closer look at this past weekend:

Varsity 

The Cubs endured something of an anomaly as they had the ball for a total of 10 plays and a possession time of less than three minutes.

Calistoga used the big play on offense as well as special teams to earn the victory.

Calistoga generated 257 yards on its 10 plays from scrimmage with a mixture of both running and passing.

Dylan Alvarado scored on runs of 15 and 57 yards and also caught a 38-yard scoring pass from quarterback Orion Harrell.

Uly Mejia also added a 15-yard touchdown run. Max Caldera also had a touchdown called back via penalty, while Harrell connected with Caldera on a 38-yard completion. 

“He was throwing the ball really well,” Paul Harrell said of Orion Harrell, who is his son. “Being able to do that made everything so much better. They just backed off the line of scrimmage and that opened up the field.” 

Alejandro Torres was involved in a strange set of circumstances. He intercepted a pass in the end zone on a conversion attempt and returned the ball 105 yards to the Point Arena end zone. However, the play was nullified as a player cannot advance the ball in that situation.

On the ensuing kickoff, the Pirates tried an onside kick that Torres picked up and raced 55 yards to paydirt. 

“That’s (assistant) coach Joe Branum right there,” Harrell said. “He’s our special teams coach. It’s nice to have them do such a nice job. Our offense doesn’t have to be on the field that long if our special teams take care of them.” 

Defensively, Torres led the team in tackles with 6.5, followed by Alvarado and Caldera with six each. Jonathan Quinnones recovered a fumble, caused by a thunderous hit from Joe Pinney.

Timmy Montanez intercepted a pass on the final play of the game in the end zone.

“There were a lot of guys that got a lot of playing time,” Harrell said. 

The large margin of victory allowed Harrell and defensive coordinator Paul Schlieder to play several youngsters.

Harrell continues to be pleased with the defense’s effort as Calistoga has outscored its foes 168-62. Harrell added that the Cubs, however, have given up most of their points after having built large leads. 

Junior Varsity

The final score was not indicative of how close the game was, as Point Arena scored a late touchdown with Calistoga having the game well in its grasp.

Cole Martin ran for one touchdown (63 yards) and threw another from 25 yards away to Santiago Madrigal. TJ Epps added a 3-yard scoring run on a bootleg.

Alvaro Torres added two touchdowns and two interceptions. Torres returned one of those thefts 55 yards to paydirt, and on the offensive side he added a rushing touchdown.

Calistoga assistant coach Scott Monhoff praised the defensive work Madrigal at middle linebacker. Monhoff referred to the play of Alan Venegas at nose tackle as “exceptional.”

Monhoff also added that fellow defensive tackle Alejandro Sanchez was disruptive in the Point Arena backfield.

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