Grant Pacers fall short in California state championship game after losing QB to injury
After weeks of joy and hugs following a series of spirited victories, the Grant Pacers were reduced to a somber group Friday night in Orange County.
Their season was complete with unwelcome results, and the embraces were laced with tears while the guys on the other side celebrated.
Despite losing the star quarterback late in the first half to a jarring hit that put him in concussion protocol, Grant competed to the end in the Division 2-AA state championship game because that’s what Pacers teams do.
But the La Serna Lancers of Whittier stopped Grant’s 2-point conversion attempt with 2:17 to play, recovered an onside kick and ran out the clock to produce a 21-19 triumph at Saddleback College for the program’s first California Interscholastic Federation football crown.
Grant didn’t lose for a lack of effort. La Serna was worthy of the task and the triumph in finishing 13-3. But the Pacers (12-3) suffered a crippling blow when Luke Alexander was crunched on a run inside La Serna’s 10 with 24 seconds to play in the opening half, his team trailing 14-13. The junior was down on the turf for several long, tense moments as both teams took a knee. He was able to walk off the field, wobbly and with a lot of assistance, but Alexander did not return.
That was determined through the CIF’s concussion protocol, which included discussion with Grant trainers and coaches. And it was tied to good common sense, really, in an era where teams have to be mindful of such hits.
Alexander watched the second half from the Grant sideline, in his shoulder pads and jersey. Coaches and teammates made sure he did not grab his helmet and rush out there, because that’s exactly what he wanted to do. Alexander came in having passed for 3,051 yards and 42 touchdowns as he provided the balance to Grant’s stellar 1-2 rushing attack of Devin Green and Wayshawn Parker. Alexander’s loss was also a blow to the team’s psyche. Their brother was down and then out of the game.
“We can’t fight that,” Grant coach Carl Reed said of challenging the decision to keep Alexander out of the game. “It’s about safety. He’s on the sideline, wanted to be in there, was coherent, and he knew everything that was going on. But I’m not going to go against rules for safety when they made that call and when it was made by the trainers.”
Alexander hit Koby Shabazz for a 4-yard touchdown to open the scoring for Grant, and Parker pushed it to 13-6 on a 7-yard run, though the extra point was blocked. Green’s 6-yard leaping-and-diving touchdown accounted for the game’s final points.
Grant had a chance to tie the game following Green’s touchdown, but Parker was stopped inches shy of the goal line on the 2-point conversion attempt. The Serpas of Los Angeles County held on from there to cap their greatest season since the school opened in 1961.
Parker blamed himself for the loss. Alexander faulted himself for not being able to lead the way. Grant defensive end star Jeremiah Tuiileila said he should have done more than his eight tackles and two sacks.
The Grant coaches would hear none of it. This loss wasn’t on anyone. It took a team to get this far and the Pacers won and lost as a team, coaches stressed. Parker rushed for 146 yards against La Serna, finishing the season with 1,907 yards and 25 touchdowns. Green ran for 79 yards to finish with 692 yards and 15 TDs in eight games. Tuiileila had 21 sacks and 40 tackles for loss.
“Really hurt to lose Luke, and we probably beat them if we don’t lose him, but they held on,” Grant offensive coordinator Josiah Johnson said. “These kids can’t blame themselves, though. They gave it their all.”
Grant’s bounceback resonates
Reed felt the pain of this loss, too. He is a Pacer to the core.
The son of retired longtime Grant teacher and coach Lynn Reed, this Reed was a Grant linebacker in his playing days in the 1990s, winning championships. He was an assistant under famed coach Mike Alberghini when the Pacers became the first Sacramento-area team to win a CIF state title, doing so in the Open Division in 2008.
And Reed was the Pacers’ first-year head coach in 2021 when the team went winless. He never lost faith, never considered leaving, and the rebuild was swift and resounding, punctuated by a CIF state D3-AA championship last season and the march for another trophy this season.
“Never happy coming out with a loss, but losing your starting quarterback, it’s tough coming back,” Reed said. “But coming within an inch of being in a tie game, you can live with that. You’ve got to love the effort. You’ve got to love the work of the coaching staff. You’ve got to love everything about these kids, and we knew they were going to fight.”
La Serna scored on Kaimanga Tufaga’s 22-yard run, CJ Ceron’s 13-yard run and Ceron’s 19-yard touchdown pass to Owen Long with 11:03 left to play.
Grant’s senior class sparkled in 2023
Grant’s final touchdown was vintage, old-school Pacers. Grant coaches did not want to place the burden of a rally on the shoulders of freshman backup quarterback Shiren Crump, who showed in games this season that he has a bright future.
Grant’s final drive lasted 11 plays, all on the ground, and it went 92 yards and consumed 5:26 of the clock. The only time the Pacers were really stymied on the drive was on the 2-point attempt by Parker, and that wasn’t a failure on Grant’s part as much as it was a terrific stop by La Serna.
“We’ve shown resiliency all year,” Reed said. “It’s the pride we have, the pride of the blue and gold. It’s the absolute pride we have to represent this team and this community.”
Members of the Grant community, families and long-ago Grant graduates made the nine-hour drive to Mission Viejo to celebrate a season to remember. They held painted signs of “Go Pacers!” and “Pacer4Life” and they agonized from start to finish. They sat in silence when Alexander went down, and they cheered their players for a season well done when the final horn sounded.
The Grant senior class that led the bounceback program charge includes the Washington State-bound Parker, the UNLV-bound Green and the Oregon-bound Kingston Lopa, a receiver and defensive back.
“This senior class is special,” Reed said. “They won back-to-back (section championships). I can’t say enough about them. We’re not going anywhere. Our plan is to make more appearances here.”
This story was originally published December 8, 2023 at 11:56 PM.