A quick glance around the region from Friday night's madness, and a look at Vei Moala and the Grant defense.
* Heady Hillmen
Placer beat Sonora 15-14 in a Division IV semifinal that wasn't an offensive showcase, but it was still a classic.
Dalton Dyer tossed a halfback pass on 4th-and-7 to Cameron Southward for a first down to the three with just over five minutes to play and then scored on a 3-yard run. Rather than risk another kicking heartache - the Hillmen had two field goals blocked earlier - Placer coach Joey Hillmen went for a 2-point conversion run, and Asher Gotzmer scored for the difference.
Gotzmer expected to get the 2-point run carry, and he said he ran as fast as he could to the outside. Dyer, however, never expected to throw a pass. It was the first of his career.
"We wanted to do somethng differe, surprise them," Montoya said.
Now the Hillmen seek the program's first title since 1982.
* Del Oro-Folsom drama
It literally was two games in one.
Folsom rolled the first half of a D-II semifinal, taking a 35-7 lead behind the five-touchdown effort from Dano Graves. As if they cleared the stadium, charged people again and filled the place again, Del Oro won the "night-cap" 36-7, as Bryce Pratt rumbled for three 1-yard touchdowns to end the scoring, capped by a 2-point conversion run with 40 seconds to go for a 43-42 lead.
The drama continued, of course, right on down to Graves moving his Bulldogs to within field goal range. The clock ran out, then a second was put back on - the right call - and a 25-yard field goal attempt was partially blocked and hit with a thud into the cross bar. Game over. Bedlam for Del Oro.
* Del Campo-Inderkum, as expected
Didn't we expect this showdown from way back in, I don't know, last December? Inderkum is 13-0 and the top seed in D-III. Del Campo is 12-1 and the No. 2 seed, and the teams meet for the title next Saturday night at Folsom.
Del Campo has superb line play, a game-turner in Ryan Dimino who accounted for all six scores to beat Sierra on Friday, and a tough defense. Inderkum has speed to burn, headed by Devin Hartley, which outscored Oakdale.
* Mighty Moala
* Mike Alberghini says to wait until the lad is 17. That left me to wonder, is that a warning or a promise? Alberghini is the Grant High School football coach who was raving about the enormous upside of his enormous defensive tackle, Vei Moala. He's No. 55 on the roster, with the size-16 feet, the Earl Campbell thighs and shovel-like hands. He's the unblockable one with the sort of grades, talent and ferocity that make him a national recruit. As a 16-year old junior.
Moala is 6-foot-3 and 340 pounds. Check his side profile. No gut, straight up and down, a virtual quarter-ton of Polynesian pride. If a tough guy in the trenches is your thing, Moala is your man tonight in a Sac-Joaquin Section Division II semifinal against Rocklin that pits The Bee's two highest-ranked teams the second half of the season.
Moala is the top stopper on the top defense in the state. Maybe the top defense anywhere. Grant has 77 sacks, bettering by three the season state record set in 1987 by Carson High. The Pacers lead all large-school programs in the country in sacks. They lead all schools of any size west of the Rockies in this category. They need a nickname. How about the Grand Avenue Sack Exchange after the school's street address?
Grant's defensive efforts this season have been the most impressive prep efforts I have seen since Elk Grove set national total offensive yardage records in 1998 with Ryan Dinwiddie and Lance Briggs.
Without helmets, the Grant defenders are a friendly, jovial and polite lot. In gear, they're terrors seeking tackles. Four teams have scored on Grant this season. The Pacers have come up with 40 takeaways. Moala has 15 sacks and Puka Lopa 19.
A defensive end, Lopa is only a junior, too. As is linebacker Darryl Paulo. And defensive end Caleb Cameron. And safety James Sample. They're not all juniors, the Grand Avenue Sack Exchange. Shaq Thompson, a playmaking cornerback recruit, is a sophomore.
