Prep notes: Four 10-0 football teams fall; playoff rushing record broken; other sports
The rumblings last week on the regional football front included this: When do the real upsets start to materialize?
Friday came and went in the Sac-Joaquin Section postseason, and the theme was upsets and brackets turned upside down.
In Division I, St. Mary’s of Stockton went from 10-0 and seeded second to 10-1 and out of it. Upstart 7th-seeded Turlock beat the Rams 51-50 in overtime in what Cal-Hi Sports deemed the biggest upset in the state this season. Cole Gilbert passed for 321 yards and four touchdowns and ran for two for Turlock, which opened the season with a 14-7 win over Rocklin and now visits No. 3-seeded Oak Ridge in a Friday semifinal. This is just the second semifinal visit for Turlock and the first in 10 seasons.
No. 5 Central Catholic of Modesto visits top-seeded Folsom in the other D-I semifinal. The programs have combined to win 30 section championships.
In D-II, Downey last week stood as the first 10-0 Modesto public school in 50 years. The Knights are now 10-1 after suffering a 42-24 loss to Sierra Foothill League battle-tested Granite Bay, which is 4-0 lifetime against Downey in the playoffs. Granite Bay visits SFL rival Del Oro in a semifinal. Rocklin takes on top-seeded Manteca in the other semifinal.
In D-III, top-seeded Placer was stung by No. 8 Woodcreek, which prevailed 26-21 as Cooper Kyro rushed for 205 yards and four scores. The Timberwolves shut out prolific Placer in the second half. Woodcreek plays at No. 4 Christian Brothers in a semifinal and No. 3 Grant plays at No. 2 Patterson in the other semifinal.
In D-IV, Liberty Ranch’s 10-0 season was jolted by Dixon, 28-21, thus advancing the Rams to their first semifinal since 1974 when famed coach Red Finney was running the show. Jett Harris passed for 212 yards and two touchdowns and had a rushing score for Dixon, which plays at No. 2 Summerville.
The last unbeaten team in the section is Sutter at 11-0, the top seed in D-V. The Huskies beat Ripon 14-0 behind quarterback Jagger Beck and a dominant defense. The Huskies face 10-time section winner Escalon in a semifinal.
Record rusher
Kainoa Acia rushed for 413 yards for Del Oro in a 46-26 D-II victory over Antelope, a section playoff record. He had 246 in the first half on 21 carries, according to Gold Country Media, and 293 after three quarters, with four total touchdowns.
The 5-foot-10, 195-pound Acia credited his offensive line of Patrick Bailey, Brandon Hill, Nixon Atwell, Jake Williams and Akio Martinson, and coach Mike Maben also praised assistant coach Josh Parry for the gameplan. Acia, a senior, has 1,343 yards rushing and 12 touchdowns this season.
The Sacramento-area rushing record for yards in a game, according to Bee research and Cal-Hi Sports, is held by Isaiah Tenette of Highlands. He went for 465 yards on 21 carries and seven touchdowns in an 84-43 win over Mira Loma in 2015.
James Montgomery of Cordova in 2005 rushed for 449 yards and five scores in a 42-28 win over Oak Ridge. Montgomery went on to play at Cal and is now the running backs coach at Fresno State. Shannon Spagner of McClatchy went for 427 yards in a 60-40 win over Sacramento in 1999. Albert Hollis of Christian Brothers in 1999 rushed for 421 yards in a 61-36 win over Truckee and went on to play at Georgia.
Cross country
Brooke Butler and Adriana Ingargiola were the top two finishers in the girls D-I section championship race at Willow Hill in Folsom on Saturday. Butler finished in 18 minutes, 47.8 seconds and Ingargiola clocked an 18:52.0. Quinn Walker of Oak Ridge was fourth in 19:01.5
In D-II, Katie Kopec won in 18:17.3 and Carly Foster was second in 18:49.9. In D-III, Anna Soares of Placer won in 18:56.5. In D-IV, Jesse Redding of Colfax won in 18:59.8. McKenna Lechner of Foresthill took the D-V race in 19:52.0. In the combined individual results, Kopec had the fastest time of 18:17.3 with Foster recording the second fastest.
For the boys, the D-I winner was Nathan Short in 15:35.8, just ahead of Ryan Mitchell’s 15:36.2. Donovan Cheruiyot of Vacaville won the D-II race in 15:55.7 and Nick Hermann of Whitney was second in 16:07.4.
In D-III, Josh Chu of Ponderosa won in 15:36.3, and in D-V, Andrew Burr of Sacramento Country Day won in 16:18.7. The CIF State meet is Nov. 26 at Woodward Park in Fresno.
Water polo
Top-seeded Davis beat No. 2 Granite Bay 13-7 to take the girls D-I water polo crown, the program’s sixth in succession, 12th in 13 years and ongoing record 18th overall. Malaya Wright had four goals for Davis and Leila Meraz three.
Davis (22-8) is the No. 6 seed in the CIF NorCal D-I field and plays at Acalanes of Lafayette (20-7) on Tuesday in an opener. Granite Bay (22-10) is the No. 6 seed in NorCal D-II and plays at No. 3 Los Gatos (27-2) on Tuesday.
In D-II, top-seeded Woodcreek beat No. 3 Buhach Colony 14-5 for its first section championship. Seeded first in NorCal D-III play, Woodcreek (19-11) hosts No. 8 Christian Brothers (17-14) on Tuesday.
In boys, No. 2-seeded Jesuit beat longtime rival Davis 8-7 to win the section D-I championship, the program’s 12th championship. That’s the second most in section history to Davis’ 15.
Jesuit (22-9) is the No. 7 seed in the CIF NorCal D-I playoffs and will play at No. 2 De La Salle (19-7) on Tuesday.
Top-seeded Del Oro took the D-II section championship with a 13-11 win over No. 3 Woodcreek, the first championship in this sport for the Golden Eagles.
Del Oro (19-8) is the No. 7 NorCal D-II seed and visits No. 2 Campolindo of Moraga on Tuesday in an opener. Davis (26-5) is the No. 1 seed in the D-II field and plays No. 8 Buchanan on Tuesday. Woodcreek (15-11) is the No. 5-seed in D-III and plays at No. 4 Terra Linda of San Rafael.