Folsom High players were all quick to put up five fingers after winning their fifth straight CIF Sac-Joaquin Section D1 title on Friday at Sacramento City College. Photo: Mark Tennis.
Friday’s CIF Sac-Joaquin Section football championships at Hughes Stadium in Sacramento led by Folsom winning its fifth straight Division I title. League rival Oak Ridge gave the Bulldogs some tough moments, but they never trailed. Woodcreek, Sutter & Calaveras also captured their first-ever section crowns.
Note: We won’t be able to duplicate these recaps for the Saturday games in the SJS due to a family commitment plus we will need to spend Saturday night doing our final run through of projections for Sunday’s CIF regional championship pairings. Those should be posted late, late on Saturday night/Sunday AM in time before the CIF commissioners meet to finalize their selections.
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D1
Folsom 21, Oak Ridge (El Dorado Hills) 14
It was the same feeling watching the Oak Ridge football team in the SJS D1 final that arose watching Pittsburg in the CIF North Coast Section Open Division the week before. One of these years the Trojans are going to be able to put it all tagether and get a win over Folsom. Not this year once again, though, as Folsom kept rolling with a win that gave the program five straight section titles and 12 SJS titles since the 2010 season.
Ryder Lyons answers questions from the media after rushing for two TDs and throwing for one in section title game. Photo: Mark Tennis / Cal-Hi Sports.
Folsom (12-1) will now head to the CIF NorCal regional playoffs and then with a win would play for a CIF state title. Two years ago, the Bulldogs won their most recent CIF state title with a win vs St. Bonaventure of Ventura for the D1-A crown. They lost in the D1-AA regional game last season at Pittsburg. This year, since De La Salle of Concord (12-0) looks locked for the Open Division and Folsom has a 53-14 loss at Mission Viejo, the Bulldogs seem primed to be selected on Sunday by the CIF for the D1-AA game in the north once again, but it won’t be against Pittsburg since the Pirates have a loss to unbeaten Riordan of San Francisco, the CIF Central Coast Section Open Division champ. Oak Ridge (9-3) had a 28-9 loss earlier this season to Folsom, but its 9-7 win in the semifinals vs Grant of Sacramento should ensure a final State TOP 25 ranking.
Both head coach Paul Doherty and star quarterback Ryder Lyons were asked how it felt to win a fifth straight title (Ryder was on the team as a freshman but didn’t play in the section final).
“It’s a relief to be honest,” said Doherty, who took over the program in 2019 when former head coach Kris Richardson became offensive line coach at Sacramento State. “There’s a lot of expectations with this program and the pressure is on us all the time.”
“Football is fun and I know this is something special,” said Lyons, who is moving the best that he has all season (foot injury). “You can’t replicate it. At the same time, we know we’ve got to prepare more for next week.”
The Bulldogs drove for an 80-yard TD on their first possession of the game with Lyons running for 17 yards on three carries and then he threw a 25-yard TD pass to Isaiah Williams. Oak Ridge then took advantage of some penalties to answer back with a 10-play 49-yard drive for a score. That one ended on a 1-yard plunge by Tyler Andujar.
Folsom scored again on its second series on a 2-yard run by Lyons, but Oak Ridge punted on its second drive. It appeared that Lyons would lead a third scoring drive despite it starting on the 13-yard line, but the Trojans stopped the Bulldogs short on a fourth down play.
Oak Ridge fans had to be happy their team was only down by one score at halftime and the Trojans were getting the ball to start the third quarter as well. The Trojans, however, went three-and-out and then after the Bulldogs got the ball first in the second half they went on a 60-yard scoring drive. The 14-play drive concluded on a 1-yard dive from Lyons.
The Bulldogs could have put the game away with a touchdown after Jason Hill Jr. came up with an interception on Oak Ridge’s ensuing possession, but Lyons had an incomplete pass on fourth down and goal from the 13-yard line. Oak Ridge kept battling for another score and with 5:07 left the Trojans got it on a 30-yard pass from sophomore quarterback Luke Tabor to Jack Granrud. There was no onside kick attempt, however, and the Bulldogs knew it was only about killing the clock at that point. That is what they did on a 13-yard pass from Lyons to Williams and then Lyons himself ran for nine and nine yards on back-to-back carries.
Next season, with Lyons graduated plus several other top players, Oak Ridge head coach Casey Taylor will have 16 returning starters. No one should ever rank anyone higher from the SJS until Folsom loses to an SJS team, but next year could be when this run finally ends.
D3
Woodcreek (Roseville) 58, Oakdale 52
A perfectly executed onside kick recovery in a game in which both teams were scoring almost seemingly at will was the difference in this game.
Woodcreek head coach Jason Stowers called for it after his team had scored on a 5-yard run with 7:35 left by Jaxson Karavian that give the Timberwolves a 50-44 lead. The recovery by Cruz Torro prevented the Mustangs not only from answering but was followed by a six-play drive for a touchdown on a 6-yard pass from Josiah Melendez to Trace Murchison.
Although Oakdale still scored again with 3:27 left, Woodcreek only needed to pick a couple of first downs to run out the clock, which it did on a 30-yard run by Melendez who slid down at the 20-yard line.
Woodcreek of Roseville head coach Kyle Stowers and team celebrate after the school earned its first-ever CIF Sac-Joaquin Section title in football. Photo: Mark Tennis.
With the win, the Timberwolves (12-1) won their first-ever SJS title. They were in this same D3 final two years ago, but were out-classed by Grant of Sacramento in a 40-14 loss. The Pacers are now in D1. Woodcreek will learn its official placement in next week’s NorCal regional games but a good spot we think would be D2-A vs Oakland McClymonds (10-2). Woodcreek’s only loss this season has been to Inderkum of Sacramento (D1 quarterfinalist) but the team also has a win against Jesuit of Carmichael (which had a win against Oak Ridge).
Oakdale was making its 19th appearance in a section final and has been in these wild-and-wacky shootouts often this season, including wins of 70-30 vs Lincoln of Stockton and 71-56 over East Union of Manteca. The Mustangs (10-3) took their final lead of the night at 44-42 with 8:50 left on a 41-yard pass from Grant Gardner to sophomore Parker Johnson. Woodcreek answered with Karavian’s touchdown on a drive highlighted by a 41-yard run by Melendez.
There were some huge plays in the first half, but the biggest in a game in which both offenses were going up-and-down the field was an incomplete pass on fourth down from the 4-yard line that Oakdale tried in the second quarter that was incomplete. Woodcreek faced a third-and-10 from the 7-yard line after that, but picked it up on a 15-yard pass to Ethan Kiem. Two plays later, Melendez threw a deep ball that Kiem grabbed clear of his defender and raced for a 77-yard score.
It was almost a personal battle between Melendez and Oakdale senior power back Wes Burford throughout the contest. Melendez was credited unofficially with 357 yards passing and four TDs to go with 154 yards rushing on just 10 carries with two other scores. Burford, who recently became the section’s career rushing leader, was handed the ball 42 times and had 174 yards and five touchdowns. He also was successful on four two-point conversion runs.
“Good teams find a way to win,” Melendez said. “That line over there also played a perfect game. I know we set some school history and it feels so amazing.”
Oakdale scoring 52 points in a loss is not enough for the state record category of most points scored in a loss, but the combined point total of 110 by the two teams is believed to be the most in any SJS playoff game.
D5
Sutter 42, Casa Roble (Orangevale) 27
It’s now been four years since Sutter switched from the CIF Northern Section to the Sac-Joaquin and this is the first time that the Huskies have won a section title in the SJS. “This is the big one,” said head coach Ryan Reynolds shortly after the game. “They were gold banners before. Now we have a blue one.”
The Huskies, who lost the only game in their regular season, 22-7, to Casa Roble in the Golden Empire League could have been ahead by more than 21-7 at halftime. The Rams made it a one-score game three times in the second half at 21-14, 27-20 and 35-27, but just couldn’t get any stops against Sutter. Max Bringgold clinched the win with a 20-yard TD run with 1:37 left. The Rams still wouldn’t quit and had the ball inside the Sutter 10-yard line with one minute left before Bringgold ended the game with an interception.
In addition to the game-clinching touchdown and interception, Bringgold also scored two more times on the ground and had 126 yards rushing on 12 carries. Plus, he had a 5-yard TD pass and a 26-yard TD reception.
Another big touchdown for Sutter came with 5:41 left on a 8-yard TD pass from Braden Scritchfield to Losi Asiata. Senior Jaylan Barcenas rushed for Casa Roble’s final two TDs and it was another stellar outing from graduating Rams’ QB Aidan Lopez.
D7
Calaveras (San Andreas) 27, Linden 12
These two teams met earlier this season with Calaveras posting a more convincing 42-14 win. This time, Linden (8-5) made it closer but not enough. With the win, Calaveras (11-2) also broke an eight-game losing streak in an SJS final and won its first-ever section title. Colton Ray rushed for a touchdown in the fourth quarter to put the game essentially out of reach for Linden.
Mark Tennis is the co-founder and publisher of CalHiSports.com. He can be reached at markjtennis@gmail.com. Don’t forget to follow Mark on the Cal-Hi Sports Twitter handle: @CalHiSports
