Outlaws suffer tough loss to Tigers

The Outlaws lost 17-6 at home to Junction City (JC) in their league opener on Friday, October 1.

Coach Bob Macauley told The Nugget that the Outlaws outplayed the Tigers and did everything but win the game.

Sisters had three penalties in the first quarter alone that counted for 160 yards of offense that was called back. The Outlaws lost 40 yards and a TD when a touchdown was called back on the first penalty of the evening.

Later, Marteen Jiminez intercepted the ball and ran it down to the five-yard line. The interception was nullified by a penalty for roughing the quarterback. The third devastating penalty came when Jiminez took a screen pass and went 45 yards down the sideline to the six-yard line. A flag for clipping was thrown in the open field, which brought the ball back to the 40-yard line.

"Essentially, we had three touchdowns called back in the first quarter," said Macauley.

The Tigers kicked a field goal in the second quarter and at the half the Outlaws were down 3-0.

Teams exchanged punts in the third quarter and then the Outlaws fumbled the ball on their own five-yard line, which led to a JC touchdown. The PAT was good and JC pushed to a 10-0 lead.

Sisters had good drives and moved the ball well, but just couldn't get it in the end zone.

The Tigers threw one up for a touchdown with 11 minutes left in the fourth quarter to go up 17-0.

Running backs Ethan Luloff and Jalen Miller ran the ball hard. Finally in the fourth quarter, with seven minutes left on the clock, Miller broke one open in the middle for a 46-yard touchdown to get the Outlaws on the scoreboard.

The game ended in a very disappointing 17-6 loss for Sisters.

Sisters defense did an excellent job and shut down the Tiger rushing. JC rushed 29 times for a total of only 54 yards. Macauley told The Nugget that the Outlaws defense has played well two games in a row.

Nate Zavala led the defense with 10 tackles, followed by Jared Nelson who recorded eight. Chandler Zenich had five tackles and Steven Nemer added four.

Macauley praised Shane Groth and Sterling Ryan (linebackers), Marcus Arends at corner, Connor Morgan and Jordan Hodges (defensive backs) and Rian Yancey (linebacker) who all had excellent performances that don't show up in the stats.

"They all contributed and did an outstanding job," said Macauley. "They did everything we asked of them and more."

Offensively, the Outlaws doubled JC in total offense. Sisters racked up 298 yards of total offense compared to the Tigers' 158.

Jalen Miller carried the ball 14 times for 99 yards and a touchdown. Ethan Luloff carried the ball eight times for 18 yards and John Greene, at fullback, carried the ball nine times for 51 yards.

Macauley noted that the offensive line of Zenich, Nemer, Randon Beech, Hayden Wester, Mitch Keranen and Marteen Jiminez did a great job and opened holes for the rushing game.

"We're frustrated, to say the least," admitted Macauley. "The kids outplayed JC and showed a lot of heart, but we squandered early opportunities. No one was physically injured, but we've got some busted up pride and 35 players and coaches that are pretty frustrated."

The Outlaws will play the Falcons at Elmira on Thursday, October 7.