Folsom, Grant Union high schools are rivals and gems of Sacramento culture | Opinion
From now on, if someone asks me how to get acclimated to Sacramento, I’ll take them to watch a football game between high school powers, the Folsom Bulldogs and the Grant Union Pacers.
High school sports carry a lot of weight in communities. They are a center of pride for generations of people. In Sacramento, these institutions are not just about education — they are where dreams of playing professional sports are born, and where work ethic and determination are forged.
But games between Folsom and Grant also tell stories of economics, race, and social class. When these powerhouses collide, as they did on Saturday on national television, it was not simply a clash of pads and helmets, but also of cultures.
Folsom and Grant are separated by only 20 miles. I had no real knowledge of the programs before the game, but I was hooked by the pageantry on display.
Folsom is a prestigious school whose football team wears red, white, and blue uniforms. The team is led by quarterback Ryder Lyons, a five star recruit headed to Brigham Young University (BYU), a private Mormon college. They boast 18 players with Division I scholarships.
The Pacers of Grant Union is a program with 14 Division I recruits of its own. Last year, Grant won the Division 2-AA state championship.
On paper, the matchup looked balanced. But in reality, it was an outright blowout: Grant’s defense couldn’t buy a tackle against the Bulldogs, who rolled to a 51–13 victory.
Even before kickoff, the tension was obvious. Players and staff clashed on the field — named after longtime Pacers coach Mike Alberghini — with Grant players jawing at Folsom head coach Paul Doherty. Both teams exchanged words, but it was clear that the blue and gold wanted to rattle the Bulldogs.
If the game had been scored by unsportsmanlike conduct penalties, the Pacers might’ve had a chance. They racked up three in the first half alone, including late hits and taunting over fallen Folsom players.
At one point, Lyons had an exchange with a Pacers defender. The QB took some trash talk but was unfazed.
“Look at the score — 37–7. It’s all good,” Lyons said.
“Meet me after the game,” the defender shot back, trying to intimidate him.
“You ain’t gonna do nothing,” Lyons replied.
None of the trash talk mattered. Folsom dismantled Grant Union. But the Pacers’ energy spoke volumes — it felt like a program carrying a chip on its shoulder, even with all its accolades, still fighting for the respect Folsom commands.
Grant was The Bee’s “Team of the Decade” for the 1990s and again for the 2000s. Folsom earned that title for the 2010s. Since 2010, the two schools have combined for 14 CIF Sac-Joaquin Section championships, eight Northern California titles, and seven CIF state crowns.
Grant remains one of the only inner-city public schools able to hold its own against suburban, upper-middle-class programs like Folsom. But Saturday’s game felt like a clash between a team grounded in its confidence and community support, and another team still trying to prove its worth.
It was only the first game, so I’m eager to see how Grant bounces back and regains its composure. I’m also excited to watch Lyons stack up numbers in his final season as a Bulldog.
The scoreboard said Folsom by 38, but the story was bigger than that. This was Sacramento — divided by class, united by pride, and that created one of the biggest stages in Northern California sports.
This story was originally published August 26, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
