Rivalry showdown: Jack Carner rushes all over rival Woodland to lead Pioneer charge
Jack Carner grew up here. His parents grew up here.
The Pioneer High School junior running back may end up raising a family here, so imagine his anticipation and nerves before playing crosstown rival Woodland High School on Friday night. He’d be facing guys he’s known since their Zamora Elementary School days and with scores of family on the edge of their bleacher seats.
“Beyond excited and proud,” Carner said, “and ready.”
Carner was big-time ready. He opened with an 84-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, and then he raced, rumbled and slithered his way for 184 rushing yards before finding enough strength to lead the cheers and chants after the No. 23 Patriots beat No. 24 Woodland 24-14 in a battle of unbeatens.
The in a Golden Empire League opener was played in front of a packed crowd, on natural grass, in a venue that is hosting games for a full season for the first time in six years after renovations. Carner was congratulated by scores of Woodland players afterward, a great show of sportsmanship in a rivalry that hasn’t always been pleasant.
“I know a lot of those guys,” Carner said, looking toward Woodland players. “I was raised here, love it here, and been doing this since I was a little man at 8 years old playing youth football.”
Carner also appreciates throwback football.
“With our grass field, it feels like the good old days,” he said. “Old field, great crowd. We’re just a small school doing the best we can. I had the fire in me tonight. It was a great atmosphere for two programs that have had a drought in terms of winning.”
Woodland went 3-1 in the spring season but was 1-9 as recently as 2017, and the Wolves last fielded a full-season winner in 2011 when Matt Bryson was in his first stint as the Patriots coach. Bryson returned in the spring because he knows these kids, including big No. 77. That’s his son Ryan Bryson, a two-way starting lineman who had grass stains from head to toe and a grin to match.
Coach Bryson is a baseball purist at heart, a 1986 Woodland graduate who was a charter member of Pioneer High when it opened across town in 2003. This game and this rivalry means something to the coaches, too.
“I know this town and this school here at Woodland, but I became the black sheep, the turncoat, and joined the other side,” Bryson said with a laugh.
Bryson is in his 29th year of teaching, and though he downplays his ability as a football coach (he is more known for his baseball coaching), he did clarify with unique coach speak, “It’s not rocket science. I don’t know a ton of football, but I understand kids and know our guys, and we’re smart enough to get Jack Carner the ball. He’s electric. We have a bunch of plodders and grinders here and he gives us that electricity, too.”
Carner is a 5-foot-10, 165-pounder who plays bigger than he is. He’s hard to track down, and he packs good grades to boot as a 3.4 student. He now has 893 yards and 13 touchdowns in five outings.
Carner’s 56-yard touchdown sprint gave Pioneer a 14-0 lead before Woodland cut it to 14-7 on a Jonathan Thompson 2-yard run late in the half. Matt Nunez extended it to 17-7 with a 34-yard field goal with 2:03 left in the third quarter. Santana Munoz tossed a 33-yard touchdown to Mason Thomas to pull Woodland to within 17-14 less than a moment into the fourth quarter. Pioneer sealed it when Ajay Lucero hit Hector Casas for a 49-yard touchdown strike with 3:19 left.
In the press box, Felicia Wilson watched all of the action unfold nervously. She is the one-time principal at Zamora Elementary, where these kids attended, and she has two sons on the Woodland team. But that Carner kid?
“Oh, I’m rooting for him because these are all my kids,” she said. “What a great night of football.”
Pioneer takes its 5-0 record back to its home turf for an Oct. 8 game against Mesa Verde. Woodland (5-1) plays at Dixon next. The GEL figures to be a three-team race between the Yolo County rivals and defending champion Casa Roble.
This story was originally published October 2, 2021 at 5:31 AM.