The game was over against the Chieftains when the Badgers stepped onto the field. Yosemite pounded Sierra 42-12 in North Sequoia League action Friday night in Badger Stadium.

The rivalry game hasn't been compelling in some years but the atmosphere is great as the underdog hopes against hope.

Yosemite (7-3, 4-2 NSL) wasted little time establishing ball control after it held Sierra (2-8, 2-4 NSL) to three plays and a punt.

Badger's quarterback Jesse Lownsbury passed to Jeff Shackelford on a flare pass to the flat for 10 yards and five plays later connected with Jackson Glines for 40 yards and the touchdown.

"A lot of their pass coverage was mismatched with our guys," Lownsbury said, "They looked confused when we went into motion on the first play of the game."

The senior southpaw did just that, throwing four touchdown passes with little pressure from the chieftains' secondary.

Four minutes later Lownsbury passed to John McNamara for 16-yards and a touchdown.

With everything going so well for the Badgers, it was time for something to go wrong. It did!

A Sierra punt was muffed by Jon McNamara who failed to down the football, allowing the Chieftains quarterback, Colt Zimmerman get a pass off to Trevor Baker who raced 33-yards to the Chieftain's first score and after the PAT trailed by only a touchdown.

But this was not their night. For the second week in a row, the Badgers scored a touchdown on a blocked punt.

Sierra punter Jason Strickland bobbled the snap and the Badgers Jayme Lee barreled into the ball and then chased it into the end zone where he fell on it for the touchdown. Following John DiTomaso's extra point, Yosemite had a 21-7 lead.

"I got past the upback (blocker) and dove for the ball," Lee said. "I caught me in the chest and bounced toward the end zone, I just chased it down and dropped on it."

On the first play of the second quarter, the Yosemite long snap center, Jackson Glines hiked the ball over the punter's head and into the end zone where Lownsbury carried it out the back for a safety 21-9 with 11:54 remaining in the first half.

Strickland rounded out the Sierra scoring in the second quarter with a 42-yard field goal, making it a 10-point game. The Badgers defense had held the Chieftains to just two first downs in the half.

Yosemite scored on three of its four third quarter possessions with Lownsbury finding his all-time favorite receiver Cody Shahan with a 25-yard pass and the touchdown.

Two minutes later Lownsbury handed off to Lee for a one-yard touchdown. Less than two minutes later Lownsbury lofted a high arcing pass to McNamara in the corner of the south end zone.

The Chieftains did not go quietly into the night taking eight plays to score a touchdown in the fourth quarter.

"Coach Barnett is a good coach and is turning the program around," said Eames. "They lost some heartbreakers this year and got a quality win over Washington."

So for the third year in a row, the Yosemite Badgers rang up another victory over their mountain rival, the Sierra Chieftains, but this one wasn't much fun.

From the locker room

Wide receiver Cody Shahan had not played since Sept. 29 when he injured his ankle. The senior caught five passes for 56 yards and a touchdown against Sierra Friday.

Shahan's "fill-in," senior Jon McNamara has 35 catches for 637 yards and 13 touchdowns (most in the NSL).

The victory helped the Badgers on Saturday morning when the CIF Central Section playoff committee met in Fresno.

The Badgers, ranked number two in Division III behind Hanford by the Fresno Bee, drew the number two seed for the playoffs and earned a bye for tomorrow (November 21).

Yosemite will host the winner of the seventh seeded Porterville and the 10th seed Dinuba who play tomorrow night in Porterville.