Picking the preps: Can Folsom, Grant top De La Salle, El Cerrito in NorCal championships?
After 15 weeks of football that started with full-contact scrimmages before the real games began, the Sacramento region has two teams left in this marathon scrum.
It’s down to Folsom and Grant, and how historically fitting since these programs represent the best in area football over the decades. Folsom and Grant on Friday night will face teams from Contra Costa County in CIF Northern California Regional Championship games, the winners advancing to CIF state finals on Dec. 10.
Folsom entertains a familiar foe in famed De La Salle in Division I-AA and Grant will meet unbeaten and similarly fast and explosive El Cerrito, located near Berkeley, in the Division III-AA finals.
How long have Folsom and Grant been powerhouses? Forever and a day. Folsom in 1962 finished the season 10-0 and ranked No. 1 in Northern California under coach Dewey Guerra. This was 10 years before the start of the Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs and 44 years before the start of the CIF state football playoffs, and light years before social media.
Grant rose to power in the 1980s, and then towered in the 1990s and 2000s as the area’s winningest team with six Sac-Joaquin Section championships and bus loads of full-scholarship players. Since 2010, the area’s top winner has been Folsom, punctuated by nine section championships, four CIF state crowns and a NorCal title win over De La Salle last season. Kris Richardson and Troy Taylor coached Folsom throughout the 2000s and last decade, and now lead the charge at 11-0 Sacramento State. Paul Doherty just coached Folsom to a section Division I repeat.
Grant’s last nationally ranked team was in 2014, a 14-0 group that lost to Folsom in the NorCal Division I-AA finals at full-house Sacramento State. That Folsom team was quarterbacked by Jake Browning and went 16-0 with 16 running-clock scores. Grant’s decline was swift, including an 0-9 showing in 2021. The rise was as swift as it was inspiring and impressive, a credit to coach Carl Reed and his staff, many of whom were Grant student-athletes in their day. Reed was an assistant coach on Grant’s 2008 CIF State Open Division title team and the 2014 team, both under head coach Mike Alberghini.
This is our final Bee preview/prediction scrum with staffers Chris Biderman, Cameron Salerno and yours truly. It’s been real and it’s been fun, but has it been real fun? For sure. Thanks for laughing along with us.
Division I-AA
De La Salle (9-3) at Folsom (12-1)
Friday, 7:30 p.m.
JoeD’s pick: How remarkable is this that after years and years of De La Salle rolling through Sac-Joaquin Section and Sacramento-area teams that Folsom has won the past two meetings? This isn’t a decline by DLS by any means as much as it’s the continued rise of Folsom. Folsom beat DLS in Concord 28-27 a year ago to take the NorCal crown and then topped the Spartans on their home turf 24-20 on Sept. 23. Austin Mack won it for Folsom earlier this season when the 6-foot-6 quarterback on fourth-and-inches jumped up and over just enough to break the plane of the goal line as time ran out. Star receiver Rico Flores Jr. is out for Folsom with a broken foot, a crusher, but Brian Ray has come on strong at that position in the playoffs, and Donovan Maxey-Parler was fresh at running back in beating Oak Ridge 23-13 in the Division I section finals. DLS? Same old thing of superb coaching, superb tackling and the tough-to-handle veer running game. Folsom by a hair, or a yard, or an inch — 23-21.
Biderman: I’m sure Doherty, who’s had a number of run-ins with DLS in recent seasons, will tell you how difficult it is to beat the same team twice in one year. But Folsom just did it by beating Oak Ridge in the section championship, and they’re better than the vaunted Spartans in nearly every statistical category, save for rushing yards. Folsom has the edge in points scored (508 to 396), points allowed (179 to 196) and yards per game (382 to 346). The only statistical advantage DLS has is in rushing yards per game, but that’s largely because of the veer offense they run. Mack is the real deal and the Bulldogs are still loaded even without Flores. Give me Folsom in another close one, 24-20, on the blue turf.
Salerno: Last season on The Buzz, I picked Folsom to beat De La Salle 28-27. It ended up being the correct pick with the exact score. Can I do it again? Well, I’ll tell you who is going to do it again. That would be Folsom, who has been the top dog all season. Despite Flores being out, the Folsom offense is still lethal. Give me Folsom by the same 28-27 score.
Division III-AA
Grant (10-2) at El Cerrito (13-0)
Friday, 7:30 p.m.
JoeD: We know a lot about Grant, but not so much about El Cerrito. Grant is fast with skill players who stretch the field and cornerbacks and linebackers who close in on ball carriers in an instant. The Pacers are fueled by steady quarterback JoJo McCray and receivers such as Kyrell Goss-Pruitt, and the defense is anchored by brothers Dubee and Kingston Lopa in the secondary. The mountain in the trenches is USC-bound Alani Noa. The Pacers play with emotion, revel in their rise this season, and are backed by a passionate Del Paso Heights community that will travel in large numbers to watch their kids compete.
El Cerrito? The Gauchos hail from the North Coast Section. They won the Tri-County Rock League and took the NCS Division III championship with a 34-27 effort over Windsor. Tony McAdoo in that game rushed for 282 yards on 21 carries for El Cerrito, which also includes dual-threat quarterback Michael Vanhook. El Cerrito allowed just 62 points in the first 12 games, allowing seven or fewer points nine times. The only regional team El Cerrito played was Vacaville, with the Gauchos winning 14-9 on Sept. 23. Grant finds a way and wins, 21-20.
Biderman: I’ve watched Grant more than any other team this season. And I think they have one of the most talented rosters in California, full stop. They have multiple college-bound pass catchers in Goss-Pruitt and Kingston Lopa (though he might be playing safety in college). They have size along the interior on both sides of the ball, multiple running backs, and McCray can distribute to all levels of the field. Maybe this is a bias pick because I haven’t watched El Cerrito play this season. Though it’s worth noting the Gauchos defense has surrendered just 89 points over 13 games, which is bonkers. The 27 points they allowed to Windsor was far and away their most with a previous high of 13, but I don’t think they’ve faced an offense like Grant. So I’m going with the Pacers, 30-23.
Salerno: What I know about El Cerrito is 49ers LG Aaron Banks went to school there. I once saw him play a basketball game at Sacramento Charter High School and he was a beast. Grant has had a storied run back to glory. With Joe picking the Pacers, I’m forced to pick El Cerrito so I can even our pick record. I’m sorry Grant! EC wins at home in a close one, 45-42.
Other section teams in play this weekend:
Division I-A: Manteca (11-1) at Pittsburg (11-2), Saturday
Division 3-A: Vanden (12-1) vs. Bellarmine-San Jose (7-6) at San Jose City College, Saturday
Division 4-AA: Pleasant Valley-Chico (9-4) at Escalon (11-3), Friday
Division 5-AA: Ripon Christian (11-2) at Hughson (11-2), Friday
Season totals:
JoeD: 83-31
Biderman: 73-41
Salerno: 82-32