The North Tahoe Junior Pee Wee Rams played exceptionally well against a strong Reno White team this past Saturday at home, despite not having crucial players due to injury and a school holiday.

Trailing 6-0 at half, the Rams were in position to score on several occasions, but costly penalties and turnovers denied them the end zone.

Although the 20-0 score did not reflect it, the Rams were in the game until the end, showing no sign of quit to give them great momentum going into the last two games of the season. They expect nothing less than two victories to finish up the regular season and prepare for the playoffs.

Junior Midgets scrap till end against Sparks

The Junior Midget Rams traded punches on Saturday against Sparks in a game filled with hard hits and big plays handed out by both teams.

Sparks scored first due to good field position on two punt returns, giving the Wolf Pack an early 8-0 lead. Strong defensive play by Alex Zissis, Tommy Thompson and Kelsey Philpot stopped Sparks dead in its tracks for the rest of the first half.

The Rams were able to move the ball through the air thanks to good line protection anchored by Jacob Buhler and Juan Estrada, culminating in a 70-yard strike from Jack Clouthier to Zissis to going into halftime down 8-7.

The second half was more of the same tough-nosed football played by both sides, with big hits and big plays, highlighted by a huge reception by Cole Steinberg at the end of the third quarter to set up a quarterback sneak to make the score 16-13 at the end of that quarter.

The Rams' defense gave up an early TD in the fourth before stiffening to hold Sparks scoreless the rest of the game, led by Thompson, Estrada, Buhler and Philpot.

Driving for a tying TD late in the fourth, the Rams were plagued by an interception to dash all hopes of victory. The team heads into Fallon this week with high expectations of victory and building momentum for the upcoming playoffs.

— This article was e-mailed to Sports Editor Sylas Wright at swright@sierrasun.com