No Sacramento-area teams made a CIF State final. Here’s why this wasn’t a down season
For the first time since 2007, the immediate Sacramento region will not have a high school team in a CIF State championship game.
Do we deem it a downer season, given that four made it to state finals last season in Colfax, Del Oro, Folsom and Rio Linda?
Not hardly, given the proper context. Anyone who suggests otherwise is either misguided, misinformed or lost too many cranial crashes with a blocking sled. Perspective counts here.
That this region has had such sustained excellence is a credit to the programs, players and coaches, and seasons should be defined by more than who’s left standing.
That’s what happened here. There is every indication that the region will have teams charge right back into state finals next season at various levels. Football is a cyclical thing and every section has had its high moments. The one thing we did see this season was a new top order. Folsom was defeated by Monterey Trail, denying the Bulldogs a shot at a fifth CIF state crown. That’s proof of how deep the region has become.
Central point
Oak Ridge lost to Central of Fresno 38-32 in the NorCal Division I-AA finale in El Dorado Hills, and there’s no shame in that. This is regarded as the highest regional classification game. The Grizzles are 14-0, loaded with speed and major-college talent and were extra motivated to achieve after falling to Folsom in the previous two NorCal title bouts.
‘Ugly’ bruisers
Elk Grove fell to Clayton Valley Charter 28-26 in the DII-AA contest in Concord that went to the wire in the driving rain. We should be impressed more by how CVC, known as the Ugly Eagles, hung in while down two touchdowns late than disappointed that the Thundering Herd couldn’t hold on.
Elk Grove didn’t collapse as much as the Ugly Eagles seized a sliver of opportunity on perfectly placed touchdown strikes from a quarterback in Jake Kern who normally hands off to a bevy of backs.
“It’s amazing what high school kids can do,” said Clayton Valley Charter coach Tim Murphy, who gets it.
Small schools out
East Nicolaus lost to St. Bernard’s of Eureka 45-29 in the NorCal DVI-AA final at about the same time fellow Northern Section heavy Sutter lost at Ripon 31-14 in the DIV-AA contest.
East Nicolaus and Sutter have combined to win 25 section titles, including 11 in the past eight seasons under coaches Travis Barker and Ryan Reynolds. Those programs have done their part to elevate the small-school section to a statewide level, and they have in recent seasons lost to Sac-Joaquin Section powers in the southern part of the state’s second-largest section.
That Ripon rolls on is an example that small-town programs continue to thrive. Ripon beat previously unbeaten Center for the Sac-Joaquin Section D-V championship and kept on rolling under coach Chris Musseman.
Coach’s moment
Musseman still embraces his championship moment, though he rarely talks about it.
His fake-punt touchdown run for Monte Vista of Danville stunned De La Salle in the 1987 North Coast Section D-I final. It took that sort of grit and guts to beat De La Salle then and now.
“You never forget it,” Musseman said. “You just hope players you coach now can appreciate their big moments.”
Lamson legend
He’s big, fast, poised and can throw a ball through a brick wall, or close to it.
Justin Lamson impressed this season at quarterback for Oak Ridge, right on down to his final plays Friday.
A junior, Lamson will be the area’s No. 1 recruit next season. He has the makings of being the area’s next major-college passer, following in the footsteps of one-time Oak Ridge star Ian Book, now a star at Notre Dame, and Jake Browning, a four-year, record-setting starter at Washington now with the Minnesota Vikings.
High on Harris
If Carter Harris never plays another down of football, may we offer a high five of appreciation.
At 5-foot-6, Harris of Elk Grove is proof that size is relative and heart is everything. He masterfully guided Elk Grove’s triple-option attack, and he nearly became the second quarterback in regional history to rush for 2,000 yards in a single season. Ryan Dimino did so for Del Campo in 2009 for a 13-1 section title team, churning for 2,809 yards and 28 scores.
CIF regional rundown
Here are all of the area’s CIF State championship-game entrants:
2008 – Open: Grant 25, Long Beach Poly 20
2009 – DII: Servite 33, Rocklin 30
2010 – DII: Folsom 48, Serra-Gardena 20
2011 – DII: Helix 35, Del Oro 24
2012 – DI: Granite Bay 21, Long Beach Poly 20
2013 – DI: Bakersfield 56, Del Oro 26
2014 – DI: Folsom 68, Oceanside 7
2015 – DII-AA: Del Oro 16, Camarillo 13
2015 – DVI: East Nicolaus 16, Coronado 6
2016 – DI-A: San Clemente 22, Del Oro 17
2017 – DI-AA: Folsom 49, Helix 42
2017 – DIV-AA: Crenshaw 46, Placer 43
2018 – DI-AA: Folsom 21, Cathedral Catholic 14 (OT)
2018 – DII-AA: Grace Brethren 21, Del Oro 14
2018 – DV-AA: Rio Linda 38, San Gorgonio 35
2018 – DV-A: San Diego 21, Colfax 10