Monterey Trail’s section upset of Folsom is the latest in a long line of football stunners
Bouncing around the high school football regions in a forward lean:
Blazing a new trail: For starters, it’s Monterey Trail — not trails as too many have mistaken, but it was happy trails for the Mustangs of the Elk Grove Unified School District on a historic Friday night.
In as remarkable of a display of ball control and sheer will against such an accomplished program as I’ve seen in my 31 years doing this for The Bee, Monterey Trail stunned top-seeded Folsom 35-23 in a Sac-Joaquin Section Division I semifinal.
How the Mustangs did it: Using the split-back veer run game to chew up yards and time. Monterey Trail (12-1) had the ball for 40 minutes and Folsom 8. Monterey Trail ran 84 plays and Folsom 34. Folsom, a seven-time section champion this decade with a NorCal-leading 137 wins since 2010, ran just 10 plays in the second half. Ten!
“In all my years of football, coaching high school, broadcasting it, and watching college ball, I’ve never seen any team do what Monterey Trail just did to such a great team. Just remarkable,” said retired El Camino coach Jim Dimino, who for the past 22 years has been the color voice to play-by-play man Will James on the “Sacramento Hometown Game of the Week” on Access Sacramento TV.
Smash-mouth works: Friday was a refreshing dose of old-school football values for the Mustangs and their throw-back coach T.J. Ewing. The victory was proof that blocking in the trenches and down field, making sound tackles, unleashing the running game and utilizing solid quarterback in Viktor Timonin is the right formula for jamming up dynasties.
Speed kills: Folsom has 11 players with college football scholarship offers. I’m not sure Monterey Trail has any, but there is speed, skill, grit and leadership among the backs in Prophet Brown, Caleb Ramsuer, Chris Lands and playmakers such as Antonio Williams and stoppers such as linebacker Marcus Jones. And the linemen? Trench terrors.
Elk Grove District stands tall: Yeah, they can still play football in the Elk Grove Unified School District, and the spread-formation passing craze has not entirely taken over the planet.
Monterey Trail’s one-time Delta League rival Elk Grove is back in a section final, downing Delta member Cosumnes Oaks 28-20 behind its triple-option rushing attack headed by Carter Harris and Hunter Hall and stressed by coach John Heffernan.
Lamson legend: He’s only a junior, but say hello to the area’s next spectacular quarterback ace. Justin Lamson passes, runs, leads and wins for Oak Ridge, which raced past an 11-0 Inderkum team 56-21 in the other D-I semifinal. Lamson is being mentored by one of the section’s top QB coaches in Mark Watson, the one-time Oak Ridge head coach.
Oak Ridge didn’t get the rematch with Folsom it so badly wanted after falling 36-33 to the Bulldogs in a Sierra Foothill League opener, but the goal is still there: the program’s first D-I section banner after winning four in D-II.
Flashback stunners: Upsets happen and they liven up any playoff field, otherwise predictability becomes mundane viewing.
In 1980, Cordova had its four-year reign on the section D-I field halted in front of 16,665 at Hughes Stadium when national recruit running back Kevin Willhite was stopped twice inside the 5 by relentless Highlands linebacker Gerald Figures in a 20-12 victory. Cordova was state-ranked No. 1 and had a 28-game winning streak halted and had won the previous four section championships.
Lancers coach Ron Lancaster addressed the Highlands team and said, “It took a tremendous effort to beat us. You earned it. Congratulations.”
Stunner, Part II: Coached by a young Dan Hawkins, now UC Davis’ coach, and quarterback star Mike Quinn, Christian Brothers bounced defending D-I champion Cordova 20-7 in a D-I semifinal, snapping a 26-game winning streak for the Lancers. The Bee’s Bob Burns predicted a CB victory in the paper, much to the angst and horror of Cordova followers.
Stunner, Part III: Elk Grove in 1984 under coach Steve DaPrato went from third place in the Delta League to D-I section champions, beating in the playoffs 9-1 Nevada Union 9-6, 11-1 McClatchy 27-14, 12-0 Highlands 25-14 and 13-0 Grace Davis of Modesto in the finals 22-3. All of those contests were on the road, some in the mud and muck.
Stunner, Part IV: Motivated to improve after two regular-season losses and a tie, Davis beat state No. 1 Merced in the 1988 D-I finals behind coach Dave Whitmire behind quarterback Brian Wernicke and lineman Jason Fisk.
Stunner, Part V: In a 1991 D-I playoff opener, upstart Roseville and coaches Bob Jellison and Larry Cunha used ball control and poise to beat unbeaten and Bee No. 1 Grant 19-14.
Stunner, Part VI: Elk Grove coach Dave Hoskins in 2000 used ball control, poise and defense to derail the state’s highest-scoring team that season in a section D-I semifinal, beating Nevada Union 35-21 - almost the same score for Monterey Trail on Friday.
Stunner, Part VII: In a 2009 D-II semifinal, defending CIF State Open Division champion Grant, rolling along at 12-0, was stopped on an epic goal-line stand by Rocklin and coaches Greg Benzel and Jason Adams for a 21-19 triumph. Ten years later, and that game still stings for Thunder players and coaches.
Character test: The mark of a true champion is a coach who after a crushing loss addresses his team with positive, if heart-felt tones, and speaks to reporters. We’ve seen our share of sore losers huff off in defeat, contradicting their theme to players of handling setbacks with class.
Lancaster, Hoskins and Cunha spoke after playoff losses. Mike Alberghini of Grant did gracefully after the 2009 loss to Rocklin and the 2014 NorCal playoff loss to Folsom. Kris Richardson and Troy Taylor did after defeats at Folsom, as have Terry Logue and Scott Savoie of Bear River, Joey Montoya of Placer and Casey Taylor at Del Oro and Capital Christian, including a crushing CIF State title defeat in 2016 that denied the program a state repeat.
And there’s Paul Doherty. Folsom’s first-year coach heaped praise on Monterey Trail and said he felt for his seniors, who don’t have next season in Bulldogs colors. Just memories.
This story was originally published November 23, 2019 at 11:18 AM.