Big first half helps Hamilton advance

The Braves came out with their guns-a-blazin' at home on Friday, as they built up a 32-16 first-half lead and held on for a 40-30 victory over Trinity in the first round of the Northern Section Division III playoffs.

Statistics from the win were not available before press time, but the victory allowed second-seeded Hamilton High to advance to a semifinal-round matchup with No. 3 Modoc at home on Friday.

The Braves from Modoc knocked off fourth-seeded Colusa 48-22 to make it to the semis.

Modoc features an extremely balanced offense that averages 193.2 yards rushing per contest and 192.6 through the air.

Senior quarterback Cam Anderson completed 106 of 184 passing attempts for 1,919 yards and 27 touchdowns, with his favorite receiver being senior Riley Larranaga, who caught 56 passes for 1,154 yards and 16 scores.

Leading ground-gainers for Modoc are senior Alex Torres (109 carries for 783 yards), senior Drew Culp (103 for 501) and junior Brandon Witherspoon (41 for 389).

Defensively, Modoc pushed its way to 17 sacks, five coming from senior Hector Hernandez.

Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.