Folsom, Escalon Casa Roble win section final thrillers — Sac-Joaquin Section playoff roundup
The opening day of Sac-Joaquin Section football playoffs couldn't have gone better. If you're a fan of close, down-to-the wire championship games.
Three of the four came down to the final minute with Folsom, Escalon and Casa Roble all pulling out wild victories. Defending champion Grant rolled to a lopsided win. Escalon won 36-35 over Patterson at home. The other three games were played at Hughes Stadium on the campus of Sacrament City College. All winners qualified for next week's regional finals at home sites. The winners of those advance to the state finals Dec. 8-9 at three different Southern California sites.
Here's a brief rundown of Friday's championships.
Division I
No. 1 seed Folsom 34, No. 3 Oak Ridge-El Dorado Hills 27
Sophomore quarterback Ryder Lyons scored on a 10-yard run with 34 seconds to play, lifting the Bulldogs (11-2) to their third straight section title, 12th overall and 10th since 2010. Lyons accounted for all five touchdowns and 316 yards of offense. Oak Ridge (10-3) has now lost 21 straight times to Folsom since 2008, but they gave the Bulldogs all they could handle. See live scoring update story and photo gallery.
Brian Ray III scored one of three receiving touchdowns for the Bulldogs.
Photo: Ralph Thompson
Division III
No. 1 Grant-Sacramento 40, No. 2 Woodcreek-Roseville 14
This wasn't so close, but it was spirited as the Pacers (11-2) won their ninth championship and second in a row behind Devin Green and Wayshawn Parker. Green a UNLV commit, rushed for touchdowns of 54 and 1 yards while going for 70 yards on just eight carries. Parker, a Washington State commit, needed just six carries to go for 145 yards and touchdowns of 60 and 63 yards. Luke Alexander completed 12 of 15 for 232 more yards with two TDs going to Oregon-bound Kingston Lopa. Woodcreek, which got 104 yards rushing by Hakeem Anderson, finished 11-2. Grant is the defending state 3-AA champion (see video at top of page when they celebrated a 36-34 win over San Jacinto).
Division IV
No. 1 Escalon 36, No. 3 Patterson 35
Escalon (12-1) fought from behind to defeat Patterson for its 12th section championship. Quarterback Donovan Rozevinik and Joshua Graham led the way to offset a big passing day for Patterson's Max Medina. Patterson finished 11-2.
Division V
No. 2 Casa Roble-Orangevale 23, No. 1 Twelve Bridges-Lincoln 22
Ethan Horner, the son of coach Chris Horner, hauled in a 2-point conversion to give his team the win and give the Rams their first state title since 2008. the game see-sawed and was tied at 8-8 and 15-15 before Nathan Crawford scored one of his two touchdowns to put top-seed Twelve Bridges (12-1) ahead 22-15. QB Conner Campbell rushed in from the 8 with less than a minute to play, making it 22-21. Chris Horner decided to go for the win and Campbell completed the 2-point to Ethan Horner. "I wish I could say it was Daddy Ball," coach Horner told Davidson. "But he wasn't supposed to get the ball. Not designed for him. But he got it." Said Ethan Horner: It's an amazing feeling. I love my dad so much." Casa Roble improved to 12-1. The game matched old school — Casa Roble has been around since 1966 — against seniors of Twelve Bridges who are making up the school's first graduating class.
