Tremain tough: Senior quarterback leads top-ranked Folsom past No. 2 Monterey Trail
The the single-most important player for the top-ranked Folsom Bulldogs is the one wearing jersey No. 7.
He isn’t the fastest guy on the roster, or the most regal, and he’s drawing just a trickle of recruiting interest, which is a shame, given his skills and drive.
That’s Tyler Tremain, the unassuming senior quarterback who looks the part of a winner once he pulls gear onto his 5-foot-10, 180-pound frame. He grew up in the youth football ranks in Folsom, dreaming of leading the varsity charge. After leading Folsom to a 6-0 showing in a shortened spring season as the only player in the state to pass for 2,000 yards, Tremain led the way Friday night in a season opener.
Tremain withstood some crushing hits to toss five touchdowns in three quarters, and he ran for another score to spark a 56-14 win over No. 2 Monterey Trail in a showdown of regional heavyweights. The game featured the backdrop of a full crowd for both sides, with cheerleaders, cool conditions and not near the smokey skies that led to a number of postponed games across the region.
Tremain was a sophomore on the junior varsity team when he watched Folsom suffer its last defeat, to Monterey Trail in the 2019 Sac-Joaquin Section Division I playoffs. He’s fast become the next great Bulldogs quarterback leader, cut in the diminutive and crafty Dano Graves mold of 2010, and his coach Paul Doherty doesn’t hesitate in declaring his importance.
“Tyler’s the best player in the section.” Doherty said. “I’ll keep saying it. He is. This is a quarterback-driven program, and he handles it all so well. He’s mature, he cares about what he does, he makes big plays and he wants to get better. They all do. It’s a great group.”
Tremain capped the opening drive with a 41-yard touchdown pass to Lucas Wolf. He had a 1-yard TD set up by a 55-yard kickoff return by Justin Arnaz; he hit national recruit receiver Rico Flores for scoring strikes of 13 and 8 yards; and Tremain found Greco Carrillo for an 8-yarder and D.J. Brown for a 7-yarder to light up the scoreboard.
One of the region’s most versatile talents, Arnaz scored a 1-yard touchdown that was set up by a 42-yard run by Donovan Maxey-Parler, who capped the scoring with a 25-yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter. The defense, headed by mainstay linebackers Justin Eklund and Justin Tremain, twin brother of Tyler, came up with five turnovers and would not allow the run-heavy Mustangs to control the clock outside of one 18-play drive.
In the upset win over Folsom in 2019, Monterey Trail had the ball for 40 of the game’s 48 minutes and had four scoring drives of 16 or more plays.
At Folsom, it doesn’t start with the quarterback. It starts in the trenches, and the Bulldogs offensive line held its own against a fast and physical defense. Folsom’s line includes four returning starters from last spring and features Christian Clingerman, Lucas Hardeman, Isaiah Rheaume, Ryan Sisson and Mason Starkey.
And that quarterback?
“Tyler, he’s great,” said Flores, the receiver who has every big college program courting him. “He’s not getting a lot of recruiting interest because he’s not really big, but he can play. We see what he can do.”
Said fellow national recruit Walker Lyons, a tight end, “We’re this good because of what Tyler does.”
Tremain praised his teammates, per his norm, from the linemen to the stoppers. He said he gets up for any game, this one especially.
“This was for real and it felt like a real game again,” Tremain said. “This means a lot to me, to all of us.”
Monterey Trail was in it in the first half, capping its first drive with an 18-play march with a 1-yard touchdown plunge by Ali Collier. When Tay Evans recovered a Folsom fumble in the end zone, the Mustangs were within 21-14. Tremain and the Bulldogs took over from there.
Folsom hosts No. 7 Jesuit on Friday and Monterey Trail plays at No. 13 Cosumnes Oaks.
This story was originally published August 21, 2021 at 6:23 AM.