After a controversial first-round fight, Elk Grove rallies to keep its powerhouse vibe
Football still matters here.
New surrounding schools that dotted the landscape the last two decades didn’t derail progress at Elk Grove High School, where blocking sleds and end zone pursuits have been an after-school teenage way of life to the point that the entire town takes notice since the 1960s, especially since the 1980s.
Elk Grove (9-4) has thundered its way to 35 playoff seasons since 1984 and it finds itself in Friday night’s section Division II championship against Whitney (7-6) at Hughes Stadium. It’s the 10th title game for Elk Grove, which seeks its sixth banner.
The 1984 Elk Grove team was a Cinderella lot — third-place finishers in the Delta League and then eventual Sac-Joaquin Section Division I champions — by beating four playoff foes with a combined mark of 42-2, all under coach Steve DaPrato, who inspired his bunch by running gassers in the mud with players.
Elk Grove’s 1998 team went 14-0 and is considered one of the best teams in section history, along with Cordova 1975 and Folsom 2014. That Herd team was led by quarterback Ryan Dinwidde, fullback/linebacker Lance Briggs, who embarked on a Pro Bowl career with the Chicago Bears, and co-coaches Ed Lombardi and Dave Hoskins.
The 12-win Thundering Herd seasons continued last decade under Hoskins and Jeff Carlson, now the team’s defensive coordinator, and earlier this decade under coach Chris Nixon.
Three years ago, John Heffernan took over as Elk Grove’s coach, bringing with him his longtime coaching coaching mate James Pale from their 15-year playoff run at Burbank. Heffernan and Pale met at College of San Mateo, where they played football. Pale was a lineman and Heffernan, “a trash-talking safety,” Pale said this week with a laugh.
It took time for Elk Grove players to absorb the workings of the tricky triple-option rushing attack that Heffernan used at Burbank. No other regional program runs it. The scheme hit high gear several this season under diminutive quarterback Carter Harris and running back Cameron Hall.
Harris has sprinted for 1,659 yards and 22 touchdowns and Hall has gone for 1,170 and 17. Hall’s father Darren Hall was a hard-charging fullback for dominant Elk Grove teams in the early 1990s.
“Elk Grove has huge tradition,” Hunter Hall said. “It’s great to play for the Herd.”
Elk Grove is the sort of program in which brothers follow the cleatmarks of brothers.
Take Jack Spithorst. He’s in the same spitting image of older brother George Spithorst, a relentless offensive lineman — “the Hammerheads” — and a hard-charging linebacker who has 8.5 sacks.
On his mentality playing this game, Spithorst said, “I’ll try to give it to you.”
He and his older brother used to tear their living room apart, couch, drapes and all.
“We didn’t save anything,” Spithorst said with a laugh.
Elk Grove overcame the loss of one star player for the season after a fight against Oakmont in a playoff opener that resulted in other players getting ejected for their role in the fracas. The Herd never broke stride, bolting past Vacaville 52-29 and getting past rival Cosumnes Oaks 28-20 in a semifinal.
“I’m super proud of these guys and how they came together,” Heffernan said. “We’re more than one player. It’s a true team. They epitomize team. It shows that if you buy into the process, anything can happen.”