Football can be as simple as the team that can run the ball — wins the game, the team that doesn’t run the ball so well doesn’t.
At Red Bluff High School on Friday night, that was on display, as the Pleasant Valley Vikings came into Red Bluff High Stadium and defeated the Spartans 24-12.
It was the eastern athletic league opener for both squads and the Vikings (3-3,1-0 in EAL) were able to hand the Spartans (5-1, 0-1) their first loss of the 2025 season.
Nearly from the outset it was clear that the Spartans were gonna have trouble containing Viking running back Titus Andrus.
On the opening drive the Vikings were facing a third and three from their own 36 when Andrus broke off left tackle and scampered 39 yards down to the Spartans in 25.
It was an issue that the Spartans would have trouble dealing with all game.
Red Bluff’s Jackie Graves hauls in a touchdown grab as time expires in the Spartans’ 24-12 loss to Pleasant Valley at Red Bluff High School in Red Bluff, California on Oct. 10, 2025. (Rick Silva/Daily News)
Pleasant Valley’s Brody Moore tackles Red Bluff’s AJ Eden after he caught a swing pass in the first quarter of the Vikings’ 24-12 win at Red Bluff High School in Red Bluff, California on Friday, Oct. 11, 2025. (Rick Silva/Daily News)
Red Bluff’s Cruz Servera (11) tries to escape the grasp of Pleasant Valley’s Telo Plasencia early in the Spartans’ 24-12 loss to the visiting Vikings on Friday, Oct. 10, 2025, at Red Bluff High School.
Pleasant Valley running back Jay Mojica finishes off a 21-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter of the Vikings. 24 12 victory over Red Bluff in Red Bluff on Friday, Oct. 10, 2025, in Red Bluff, California.Rick Silva/Daily News)
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Red Bluff’s Jackie Graves hauls in a touchdown grab as time expires in the Spartans’ 24-12 loss to Pleasant Valley at Red Bluff High School in Red Bluff, California on Oct. 10, 2025. (Rick Silva/Daily News)
The Vikings were able to take advantage of it because of the play calls at the line.
“It was just kind of the way they were playing stuff and we were having the quarterback (Brayden Wynkoop) check at the line of scrimmage,” coach Mark Cooley said. “So, you know, the nothing it was I didn’t wanna quarterback did a good job checking to play with the line of scrimmage.”
Three plays after Andrus’ big run, he scored from 7 yards out to give the Vikings an early 7-0 lead after the extra point was good with 8:41 left in the first quarter.
On the Spartans’ first offensive play of the game, running back Cruz Severa was dropped for a four-yard loss by Telo Placencia which turned out to be a bit of a harbinger of things to come for the Red Bluff running game.
While Red Bluff Coach Jacob Dericek credited a good Viking defense, he also thought his team left some plays on the field.
“I was watching the film, when we got the blocks, we missed the hole,” he said. “And then when we were hitting the hole, we missed the blocks. So, we just couldn’t put it together.”
The Spartans were forced to punt the ball back to the Vikings on their first drive.
The Vikings were facing a second 10 from the 31 when once again, Andrus, a big, bruising back, broke off left tackle and carried the ball down to the Spartans’ 13-yard line for a 46-yard gain.
“Hats off to that kid, you know, he’s basically just dragging a sled out there, right,” Daricek said. “And he’s so fast.”
The Vikings were able to push the ball down to the four-yard line before they were stopped on fourth and one with 4:41 to go in the first quarter, when linebacker Bryce Owens ran free and was able to tackle Wynkoop for a sack.
That gave the Spartans an opportunity to take over the ball at their own seven-yard line but after quarterback Ashden Wehbey was sacked for a six-yard loss back inside of his own one-yard line, they were only able to get the ball out to their own 10-yard line before being forced to punt.
But the snap was low on the punt, forcing the punter Marco Zepeda to go down to catch it and when he did, his knee touched the ground, setting the Vikings up at the four-yard line once again.
This time the Vikings were able to punch it in this time on a run by Ryan Rothenberger, who scored from 4 yards now to make it 14-0, with 230 left after the extra point was good
Dericek, who was proud of defense once again, said that the play put his defense in an impossible situation.
The Spartans got the ball following kickoff and moved it 67 yards in 17 plays to score on a five-yard touchdown pass from Wehbey to sophomore Jay Dericek, to cut the deficit to 14 after the extra point was no good with 816 left in the second quarter.
On the next Vikings drive, once again, Andrews lifted his Viking offense with a big run. This one was a 30-yard run that came on a third-and-14 play that put the ball at the Spartans’ 39-yard line.
A few plays later, on a second-and-16 play, Red Bluff cornerback Jackie Graves intercepted a Wynkoop pass inside the Spartan one to deny the Vikings a chance to extend their lead.
Getting the ball back gave the Spartans an opportunity to tie the ball game, before going to halftime, knowing they had the second app opening kickoff awaiting them.
However, the Vikings were able to get a stop and force the Spartans to punt the ball back with 40 seconds to go. The Spartans got a great punt as the Viking punt returner picked it up at his own 30 but was able to return the ball to midfield with 22.5 seconds left to go in the game.
Wynkoop found Andrus on a short pass, who then took it down to the red Bluff 32 before spiking it.
One pass play later, the Vikings moved the ball at the Spartans’ 21 and were able to make a 31-yard field goal to close out the half.
The Spartans got the ball to open the half and Ezequiel Castro returned the kickoff to the Red Bluff 48-yard line, giving the Spartans good field position.
However, Red Bluff could only get the ball to the PV 43 before having to punt again.
The Spartans’ defense held up again, forcing the Vikings to punt again.
The Spartans were able to drive the ball on their next drive into the Vikings’ territory before Luke Nevins intercepted a Wehbey pass intended for Zepeda.
That’s at the Vikings up near midfield.
The interception proved costly for the Spartans, as the Vikings were able to turn it into a 21-yard touchdown run was 732 remaining in the game by Jay Mojica, who would finish the evening with 62 yards on eight carries and one touchdown.
The Spartans were able to move the ball down and score as time expired on a touchdown pass from Webb to Jackie Graves.
Pleasant Valley will now prepare to take on Chico High in the Almond Bowl on Friday night.
Cooley said that his Vikings didn’t get better on the night, but they didn’t get worse either in the victory, saying there are a lot of things the Vikings can improve on in the game that he did not expect to turn out the way that it did.
“We’ve got to be a 1000 times better on our side of the ball when it comes to offense, when it comes to defense or pass coverage or dumb penalties,” Cooley said.
He also indicated that it was a good win for his ball club to open the season against a Spartan team that was in the section finals last year against Pleasant Valley.
“You know, it’s a road win, you know, coming off the bye week, stuff like that, a lot of injuries, you know, so we’re putting people together, trying to figure some things out on the fly,” he said. “ But yeah, I mean, you know, they got a good ball club. There’s a reason why they were in the section final last year.”
The Spartans will now travel to prepare to take on Foothill, which beat Shasta 45 to 9 on Friday night.
Daricek said he thought his team did get better despite the loss
“I think we still haven’t played our best football, he said. “I think that we learned after the first quarter that we’re capable and that we can compete.”