Empire notes: SRJC receiver Lucas Triplett wins Bay 6 honors

Santa Rosa Junior College sophomore Lucas Triplett was named the most valuable offensive player of the Bay 6 league for his dominant performance for the football team this season.

Triplett, who prepped at Fort Bragg, scored 11 touchdowns in nine games while averaging 113 yards per game. He caught 62 balls for 1,022 yards, an average of 16.5 yards per catch.

He was joined in the all-conference honors by defensive back Richie Hardwick (Vintage High), defensive lineman Soni Misi (Rancho Cotate), defensive lineman Alu Taito (Kalihi, Hawaii), defensive back Allante Leapheart (Detroit), quarterback Jake Simmons (Rancho Cotate), offensive lineman Kaulano Ako (Cardinal Newman), wide receiver Graeden Monahan-Sharpe (Rancho Santa Margarita), punter Seth Vernon (Maria Carrillo) and linebacker Mike Ross (Rancho Cotate).

The No. 4-seeded Bear Cubs will travel to Sacramento Dec. 1 to play No. 3 seed American River in the Gridiron Bowl.

Bear Cubs win, advance to second round

The Santa Rosa Junior College women's soccer team traveled well south of where they were originally scheduled to play on Saturday, but the trip was worth it.

The Bear Cubs, ranked eighth, beat the 9th-seeded City College of San Francisco Rams 2-0 in Salinas to advance to Round 2 of the Northern California regional tournament. The game was moved at the 11th hour to Hartnell College because of poor air quality.

Santa Rosa got two first-half goals thanks to April Gomez, a sophomore out of Montgomery, after a mere 45 seconds of play. Kitana Gonzales, a freshman who prepped at Maria Carrillo, finished a penalty kick in the 36th minute to put the Bear Cubs up 2-0.

Santa Rosa travels to No.1-ranked Sierra on Wednesday.

NCS champ Cardinals to return core crew

The Cardinal Newman water polo team that won a thriller in the North Coast Section Division 2 final only to be turned around on the road en route to the NorCal tournament Friday might gain some solace from this - four of their top five goal scorers this season are juniors.

The Cardinals were paced by junior Bennett Stafford's 128 goals, followed by Joao Mesquita's 57. Senior Justin Brown scored 52, followed by juniors Gavin Homer and Peyton Dove with 34 and 33, respectively.

Middletown turns tables on Fort Bragg

When the Middletown Mustangs beat the Fort Bragg Timberwolves last week in the quarterfinals of the Division 5 North Coast Section football tournament, it not only advanced the Mustangs to play the winner of No. 1 Kelseyville and No. 8 Cloverdale, it proved a turnaround from the earlier meeting of these two rivals. When the two teams met in their regular season matchup, the Timberwolves prevailed 18-14.

Youthful Bear Cubs could well do it again

The Santa Rosa Junior College women's cross country team that ran to a Big 8 Conference title, second place at the NorCal Championship meet in Redding and a 13th place finish in the state meet on Saturday could reasonably enter the 2019-20 season with lofty goals.

The runners, paced by Vintage High grad Ana Palafox, are all freshmen. Palafox finished 16th at state, followed by Evelyn Ramirez and Jackie Ramirez, both El Molino grads, who finished 80th and 84th, respectively. Marisa McGettigan, Dana Johnson and Miranda Huntsinger finished 125th, 147th and 148th.

You can reach staff columnist Kerry Benefield at 707-526-8671 or kerry.benefield@pressdemocrat.com, on Twitter @benefield and on Instagram at kerry.benefield. Podcasting on iTunes and SoundCloud, “Overtime with Kerry Benefield.”