Hunter O'Meara (Sparks football) O'Meara was the definition of a workhorse on Friday night. Sparks' senior running back ran the ball 33 times for 257 of the Railroaders' 358 total yards of offense. He also scored twice, leading Sparks (1-1, 1-1) to a 20-10 home win over Dayton. The Sparks Tribune Athlete of the Week will be announced every Tuesday morning throughout the … [Read more...]
Defense, O’Meara push Sparks past Dayton
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFsrB0yCXF4 Sparks drudged 83 yards on 16 plays, eating up the first 10 minutes of the second half, to take a 14-2 lead over Dayton at home on Friday night. Less-than-suddenly, the team that scored just one touchdown all of last season, needed to put together multiple scoring drives to snap a 13-game skid. It didn’t happen. The … [Read more...]
South Tahoe passing attack too much for Sparks in opener
The last thing Sparks coach Rob Kittrell wanted to do in Friday night’s opener at home against South Tahoe was get into a track meet. Led by quarterback Tommy Cefalu, the Vikings boast one of the 3A North’s most explosive offenses. And well, it turned into a track meet. A meet dominated in the second quarter by the guests. After forcing a fumble on the Vikings’ … [Read more...]
Sparks Preview: Railroaders reaching for first postseason berth since 2008
The postseason has been a mirage for the Railroaders. They haven’t been since 2008. Coach Rob Kittrell believes that streak could snap this season. “Oh yeah, I do (think we’re in playoff contention),” Kittrell said. “You look at last year, the Wooster game was a mess. Truckee, we were up three touchdowns in the third quarter and lost that one… Yeah, we are (right … [Read more...]
Shoup Shots: Three premature prep football predictions 3.0
So, I cheated this year. The two previous years I wrote this column in July. This year, I waited until the week before the season started. Oops. A couple factors dictated why I wrote this piece so early in the past. One, I was confident (well, kind of) in the predictions. And two, I was new to the glamorous life as the Sparks Tribune Sports Editor and occasionally … [Read more...]
Reed dominates football all-league selections
The DI North football all-league teams were released at the conclusion of the season and unsurprisingly, Raiders littered all teams. Reed went 13-0 on its way to its fifth-straight regional title before falling to Bishop Gorman in the state semifinals. Reed claimed 40 all-league spots, which was easily the most in the DI North. Galena had 29 and Carson had 28. Spanish … [Read more...]
Sparks suffers heartbreaker in final contest of year
By Kiley Diesner, reporting intern By almost any description, the 2015 Sparks Railroaders were a success. After winning just one game between 2012-14, the Railroader finished 3-7, 2-7 this fall. But that doesn’t make Thursday night any easier. Sparks ended its season with an emotional 19-14 home loss to its in-town rival, Wooster (4-6, 3-6). Despite the immediacy of … [Read more...]
O’Meara’s three-touchdown night not enough at South Tahoe
Sparks started fast on Friday night at South Tahoe. But teams rarely win games in the first quarter. The Railroaders went on to fall 63-21, dropping to 3-6, 2-6 on the season while the Vikings improved to 4-5, 4-4. Hunter O’Meara gave Sparks a 7-0 lead less than three minutes into the contest with a 23-yard touchdown just two plays after South Tahoe muffed a punt on its … [Read more...]