Is the ‘Folsom Fatigue’ – winning too many titles – about to end?
The Folsom Bulldogs are an impressive lot, a roster dripping of college-recruit talent.
Eleven players hold scholarship offers, which is more than some solid programs in this valley have fielded over a 40-year period.
There is size beyond the roster number of 86. The Bulldogs have speed, skill and the immeasurable of championship experience.
And yet, Folsom dangles on the tree of opportunity for foes, just waiting to be plucked, devoured and jettisoned over the back fence, core, stem and all.
Or not.
In the final year of a decade of dominance unlike any in regional history, Folsom this year has had moments where it looks invincible when it wasn’t looking vulnerable. And this is a good thing for the 10-1 Bulldogs, who need to be pushed to play their best. It’s also an encouraging sign for the rest of the Sac-Joaquin Section, which has been plowed under for the better part of 10 successive seasons by better players and better schemes.
Folsom is a victory away from reaching its 10th consecutive section final. It is also a defeat away from making the Division I race anyone’s game and muting the “Folson Fatigue” drum beat. The region has tired of the same flavor, the same lot of Bulldogs in the section finals.
About the only ones rooting for the guys in royal blue, red and white are those wearing them and their fan base. Folsom has become the program others are eager to see get knocked down, much like when Cordova ruled the region in the 1970s and the first half of the 1980s. The section as a whole had a choice: continue to fall to Folsom or close the gap.
In a September Sierra Foothill League opener, Folsom nipped Oak Ridge 36-33. There was hope among the rival masses that this could be the year a new order takes over, or at the very least the end of continuous mercy running-clock scores.
On Friday in a Division I quarterfinal, eighth-seeded Edison of Stockton pushed Folsom to the brink before a last-play, game-winning attempt into the end zone was denied by C.J. Hutton, resulting in a 45-42 Bulldogs victory. Folsom last lost a non-section championship game in 2009, a lifetime ago.
Folsom generally does not celebrate quarterfinal victories but they danced Friday. The Bulldogs found a way. It’s a credit to coaches Paul Doherty and Jordan Banning and a cast of seasoned players such as quarterback Jake Reithmeier and national-recruit stars Elijhah Badger and Daniyel Ngata and unsung performers such as reserve receivers Zack Cottrell and Drake Digiorno.
This group doesn’t flinch from a challenge. It embraces it. But to a man, Folsom will tell you that it cannot win championships with four turnovers, which it had against Edison.
This is still Folsom’s party. The Bulldogs have won 45 consecutive games against section competition and a remarkable 98 of 99. Folsom seeks its eighth section title this decade and is 33-2 in the section playoffs since 2010. The Bulldogs stack section blue banners on top of each because the trophy case is so bloated with hardware.
Next is Monterey Trail (11-1) in a rematch of last year’s final. Monterey Trail beat St. Mary’s of Stockton 28-21 with the sort of athletes, execution, running game, defense and coaching staff that could pose problems for Folsom. Said Mustangs running back Caleb Ramsuer late Friday, “We want that section championship!”
So does everyone else there, young sir.
Elk Grove gets back on track
Short three key players in its D-II contest against Vacaville in Solano County, Elk Grove was either going to dig deep or buckle badly.
The Thundering Herd dug.
With Khalani Riddick returning the opening kickoff 81 yards for a touchdown and three rushers combining for nearly 350 yards, Elk Grove belted Vacaville 52-29 to bounce the Bulldogs for the second successive season in D-II.
The Thundering Herd (8-4) lost three starters due to ejections in last week’s win over Oakmont. Carter Harris ran for 147 yards, Cruz Baltazar 119 and Hunter Hall for 80, and backup Jeremy Crook ran for three scores.
Now it’s another form of redemption. Elk Grove visits second-seeded Cosumnes Oaks (8-3) in a rematch of a Delta League contest won by the Wolf Pack, 23-12.
Capital Christian, Antelope continue to simmer
Maybe these teams should avoid each other, and perhaps the section seeding committee can help that cause next year, or any year.
Capital Christian and Antelope players do not get along. Friday was the third time in two seasons that the programs met, twice in the playoffs, and each contest included a flurry of flags, emotions and personal fouls, including during Capital’s 27-17 D-III quarterfinal win.
Emotions tend to simmer in a violent sport, and they boil here too often. A year ago before the teams met in the playoffs, the coaches — Casey Taylor of Capital Christian and Matt Ray of Antelope — met with team captains over pizza to become more united.
It didn’t help. We’d suggest a food fight to lighten the mood, but that’s the wrong theme here. Avoiding each other is the real answer.
Over and out in Davis?
He wouldn’t say for certain, but Steve Smyte could be done in Davis, which would be a bummer. It took a coach of his tireless ambition to awake a sleeping giant.
Three years after going 0-10, Davis went 10-2 this season, winning the program’s first Delta League crown since 1994 and its first playoff game since 1995 with its best start since 1984. But coaching is a grind, and Smyte said he isn’t sure what he’s going to do next week, let alone next season. He also said coaching hooks a man, and he’s been hooked, saying, “these guys made it fun again.”
This story was originally published November 16, 2019 at 6:23 AM.