‘What a sweet comeback!’: El Dorado rallies to beat Union Mine in Gold Nugget thriller
Caelen Bonniksen does a lot of everything in a football game.
He makes passes long and short as the starting quarterback. He can take off on the run, zig-zagging through defenders, he can block, and can even make tackles on defense. Oh, he can also play some receiver in a pinch to punctuate a trick play.
On Thursday in Placerville on Senior Night, Bonniksen was the man of the hour, capping a perfectly called and timed play that allowed El Dorado High School to yank the momentum from Union Mine in the 14th Gold Nugget game of regional rivals. The slender senior took the snap at quarterback, handed it off to Maxx Swanson — then took off down his own sideline, looking up for the ball and finishing off the 75-yard touchdown reception that keyed a 20-16 victory for the upstart Cougars.
That play came with 6:44 to go in the game, but the official game-winner was Gio Pifferini’s 6-yard touchdown run with 3:50 to go, with El Dorado making stops to seal it from there in moving to 3-0 this spring season.
El Dorado trailed 16-7 in the fourth quarter in an entertaining contest that included a nice crowd on the tree-lined stadium that includes the flag pole from the 1960 Winter Olympics in the Sierra Nevadas. Everything about this storied venue speaks of tradition and fun. The Cougars gutted this one out with a small roster, some of them hobbled, against a bigger, deeper and well-coached group from Union Mine.
“Proud of our guys, all 18 of them,” an emotional El Dorado coach Christian Mahaffey said afterward, a moment after hoisting the glass case that holds a gold nugget, presented to the winning team each year. “We put that trick play in yesterday. We had fun with it. This game always matters, no matter when we play it.”
Added the coach on his versatile quarterback, “Caelan is one of the best kids I’ve ever been around. He’s kind-hearted and cares about everyone.”
So much so that Bonniksen was an advocate for the return of prep sports during the pandemic. A three-sport athlete and a good student, Bonniksen during the fall of paused sports created social media pages, helped organize rallies and spoke from the heart at those rallies on the importance of school, sports and engagement. And memories. He’ll surely remember this game.
“What a sweet comeback!” he said excitedly. “That play, we talked about it at the half. We needed something, so we said, ‘We gotta do it.’”
As for having a senior season and carrying on the tradition of older brothers who played for the Cougars before him, “This is all we wanted: give us a chance to play sports, and we got that chance, and we did it. And look at us. We’re happy. We have half our guys limping but what a game.”
Bonniksen’s brothers Derek and Nick had some big memories as prep athletes, and they appreciated the value of being good student-athletes through their father, Eric, the Superintendent of the Placerville Union School District.
What makes El Dorado a tough handle is how Mahaffey gets his guys to compete. With rosters this small, it takes everyone, including the coach, to do their part. Mahaffey is a big man with a good heart and a fierce pre-and-during game scowl.
He didn’t mind tearing up after the game. Piffererini also scored on a 2-yard run to pull to within 10-7 in the third quarter, and he made plays on defense.
The El Dorado line held its own despite the size disadvantage, including the towering Jaxon King of Union Mine at tackle. Union Mine (2-2) is so big that even its coach is big — Taylor Duncan. He played at El Dorado, as did his assistant-coaching father, Dean. Duncan played in this Gold Nugget series, but not his father. This series started in 2006. It’s not as storied as the Gold Pan game between El Dorado and Ponderosa, dating back to 1963, but that series is not always played, with gaps sprinkled in. The El Dorado-Union Mine one has been down to the wire in recent years.
The Diamondbacks beat Liberty Ranch and Burbank with late-game heroics by quarterback Calvin Owens, and the quick and elusive junior did his part Thursday, including opening the scoring with a 1-yard run. Joe Repass booted field goals of 47, 35, and 23 yards for Union Mine, which concluded its spring season here.
The Diamondbacks only scheduled four games with the intent, as a smaller school, to focus on spring sports that were wiped out last spring due to the pandemic.
El Dorado has games against Burbank and Galt, expecting momentum heading into the fall as a team that returns a lot in the trenches.
“We can be pretty good,” Mahaffey said.