Updated roundup: Grant and Rocklin in a thriller to the end; two Top 20 upsets

No. 9 Grant and Rocklin, teams fighting for their playoff lives in the ultra-competitive Sierra Foothill League, engaged in an offensive slugfest Friday night in Del Paso Heights.

Xavier Johnson settled it with an 8-yard touchdown pass to DeShon Colvin with 19 seconds to play to rally the Pacers (4-3, 2-1) past the Thunder 41-36.

Johnson was 21 of 28 for 316 yards and two touchdowns and running back Christian Kinsey had 105 rushing yards and two scores.

Rocklin (2-6, 1-3), which led 15-14 at the half, took a 35-27 lead early in the fourth quarter on a Cade Wyant to Liam Mays touchdown pass, but Grant closed to 36-34 midway in the fourth quarter with a touchdown.

No. 1 Folsom 63, Whitney 7 in Folsom – Kaiden Bennett completed 13 of 17 passes for 269 yards and six touchdowns – two each to Elijhah Badger, Joe Ngata and C.J. Hutton; Matthew Simon had 101-yard interception return for a score and Daniyel Ngata returned a kickoff 91 yards for a touchdown to lead the Bulldogs (6-1, 3-0) past the Wildcats (0-7, 0-4) in the Sierra Foothill League. Bennett has thrown for 30 touchdowns this season. Badger finished with three touchdown catches, also grabbing a 24-yarder from backup quarterback Jacob Reithmeier.

No. 3 Monterey Trail 50, Kennedy 0 in Elk Grove – Jehiel Budgett rushed for two touchdowns and caught a 40-yard touchdown pass from Zach Larrier; Caleb Ramseur rushed for 40- and 20-yard scores; and Prophet Brown had a 55-yard rushing touchdown as the unbeaten Mustangs (7-0, 2-0) topped the Cougars (3-4, 1-1) in the Metro League.

No. 5 Inderkum 43, River Valley 0 in Natomas – The Tigers (7-0, 3-0) and their renowned wing-T ran to a 36-0 halftime lead en route to the Capital Valley Conference win over the Falcons (4-3, 1-2).

No. 11 Jesuit 42, No. 13 Elk Grove 21 in Elk Grove – Hank Harvego threw four touchdown passes, including two to Isaiah Rutherford, and Villi Hopoi rushed for two touchdowns and caught a 13-yard scoring strike from Harvego as the Marauders (5-2, 3-0) rallied from a 21-14 halftime deficit to beat the Thundering Herd (3-4, 2-2) in the Delta League. Nick Woolstencroft returned a fumble 60 yards for a touchdown for Elk Grove.

No. 12 Bear River 49, Lindhurst 0 in Lake of the Pines – After recovering a Blazers’ fumble, 5-foot-4 defensive lineman Shelbi Beghetti became the first female to score a touchdown in Bear River history when she burst into the end zone from a yard out to highlight the Bruins’ Pioneer Valley League win. Tre Maronic rushed from a 19-yard touchdown and caught two touchdown passes from Calder Kunde and Trae Nix scored on a 40-yard fumble recovery after a strip sack by Jared Baze for Bear River (7-0, 2-0), which had five sacks, two fumble recoveries and two interceptions in the first half.

No. 14 Antelope 27, Woodcreek 25 in Antelope – The Titans (5-3, 4-0) scored the game-winning touchdown with 6:52 to play but needed a late stop to hold off the Timberwolves (6-2, 2-2) in the Capital Valley Conference thriller. Woodcreek drove 50 yards before giving the ball up on downs at the Antelope 30 with one minute to play. Antelope finished with 370 total yards; Woodcreek with 340.

No. 15 Center 24, Foothill 14 in Antelope – The Mustangs (5-2, 1-1) used a second-half interception return for a touchdown and a first-half Travion Drummer touchdown catch to upset the Cougars (5-2, 0-2) in the Pioneer Valley League.

No. 16 Colfax 42, Marysville 0 in Colfax – Jake Green returned a kickoff 92 yards for a score, caught a 79-yard touchdown pass from Alex Weir and returned an interception 52 yards for a touchdown to lead the Falcons (7-0, 2-0) past the Indians (3-4, 1-1) in the Pioneer Valley League.

No. 20 Lincoln 35, No. 18 Ponderosa 28 in Lincoln – Harry Rounds rushed for a 30-yard touchdown late in the fourth quarter to lead the Fighting Zebras (4-3, 1-1) past the Bruins (5-2, 0-2) in the Foothill Valley League. Ponderosa had tied the score 28-28 with 10 minutes to play on Elijah Henderson’s 10-yard touchdown pass to Ty Uber and Tanner Granade’s PAT. Rounds also had two touchdown catches. Henderson also threw a first-quarter touchdown pass to Uber and had an 8-yard touchdown run.

No. 19 Casa Roble 46, Pioneer 0 in Woodland – The Rams (6-1, 2-0) used several big plays, including an 80-yard rushing touchdown and a punt return for a score, to belt the Patriots (3-4, 1-1) in the Golden Empire League.

Highlands 65, Golden Sierra 64 (2OT) in North Highlands – Gerald Davis, who accounted for six total touchdowns, threw a touchdown pass to Byrd Alexander, then the Scots (4-3, 1-1) converted the PAT kick to prevail against the Grizzlies (4-3, 1-1) in the second overtime in the Sierra Delta League thriller. Regulation ended tied 50-50, then the teams traded rushing touchdowns and two-point conversions in the first overtime. Golden Sierra rushed for a touchdown in the second overtime but its two-point conversion attempt failed. Davis rushed for three scores and passed for three more.

Cosumnes Oaks 21, Franklin 7 at Cosumnes Oaks HS – Elijah King rushed for a 30-yard touchdown and also caught 60- and 43-yard scores from Anthony Grigsby Jr. to lift the Wolfpack (4-4, 2-2) over the Wildcats (2-5, 1-2) in the Delta League. Phil Nguyen threw a 47-yard scoring strike to Michael Hardey for Franklin’s lone score.

Davis 35, Pleasant Grove 26 at Sheldon HS – Ben Busano threw a 77-yard touchdown pass to Payne Barksdale, caught a 50-yard touchdown from Luke Carrell and rushed for two touchdowns to lead the Blue Devils (4-3, 1-2) over the Eagles (0-8, 0-4) in the Delta League. Nathan Valencia threw touchdown passes to Terrell Littlejohn (6 yards), Jacob Couchot (43 yards) and Franco Keplinger (63 yards) and also rushed for a touchdown for Pleasant Grove.

Dixon 48, Mesa Verde 0 in Citrus Heights – Tyler Boston rushed for three touchdowns and Eli Gordon rushed for a 10-yard touchdown and also returned a fumble 7 yards for another score as the Rams (4-3, 2-0) topped the Mavericks (0-7, 0-2) in the Golden Empire League.

Oakmont 29, Nevada Union 20 in Grass Valley – The Vikings (4-3, 1-1) led 26-0 but had to hold on against the Miners (3-4, 0-2) in the Foothill Valley League game. Jaxon Horne had a 90-yard touchdown run, Dawson Fay a 35-yard rushing score and Parker Heilaman a 31-yard touchdown pass to AJ Meyer for Nevada Union.

Burbank 56, River City 14 at Burbank HS – Levelle Bailey threw four touchdown passes – three to Edward Asi – and rushed for a touchdown, and Quincy Wright II returned a punt for a touchdown and had a 54-yard rushing touchdown as the Titans (4-3, 2-0) rolled over the Raiders (0-7, 0-2) in the Metro League.

Delta 42, Western Sierra 0 in Rocklin – The Saints (2-5, 1-1) forced three turnovers, including an interception returned for a touchdown, to beat the Wolves (1-6, 0-2) in the Sacramento Metropolitan Athletic League.

Bradshaw Christian 42, Galt 35 in South Sacramento – Jeremiah Bonner-Hayes rushed for a 30-yard touchdown with five minutes to go to break a 35-35 tie as the Pride (5-2, 2-0) prevailed over the Warriors (4-3, 0-2) in the Sierra Valley League. Bonner-Hayes also rushed for touchdowns of 80, 26 and 3 yards. Robert Bulahan had four touchdown passes for Galt.

El Dorado 28, Rosemont 27 in Rosemont – Kyle Masterson threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to Rickey Mayes with less than a minute to play but the Wolverines (3-4, 0-2) failed on the two-point attempt against the Cougars (3-4, 2-0) in the Sierra Valley Conference. El Dorado threw a touchdown pass and ran for the two-point conversion to take a 28-21 lead with four minutes to go. Dalonte Baskerville scored three touchdowns for Rosemont.

Union Mine 42, Liberty Ranch 35 in Galt – Clayton Byer threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to Devin Williams late in the fourth quarter to rally the Diamondbacks (2-4, 2-0) over the Hawks (2-5, 0-2) in the Sierra Valley Conference. Byer threw for three touchdowns and ran for two others. Matt Hopper rushed for three touchdowns and had a touchdown pass to Kyler Lunde for Liberty Ranch.

This story was originally published October 5, 2018 at 11:55 PM.