Woodland Christian keeps rolling: New coach? No problem as Cardinals near league title
Some Woodland Christian upperclassmen were a bit leery of first-year head coach Michael Paschke at the start of the season.
A few Cardinal seniors contemplated quitting football after playing no games during the COVID-stricken spring season. Bringing in Paschke, who spent six years running the Woodland Christian Junior Cardinals program, didn’t exactly inspire confidence in his players – at first.
“I had to do some heavy negotiating to get them out on the field,” Paschke said. “I think they looked at me like, ‘Who is this guy coming from the youth program?’ Why would they trust me? I had to win over their trust.”
As the man succeeding foundational Cardinals coaches Mark Johnson (now the head coach at Davis High) and Bruce Pielstick (an assistant at Capital Christian), Paschke knew he had to prove himself to get his team to buy in. It wasn’t long before the team responded. In scrimmages, Woodland Christian began scoring in bunches with Paschke’s schemes.
“That’s when they started believing,” Paschke said. “I’m following two amazing coaches. They’re both in another league of their own. They built a good foundation for the high school players, and I’m just coming in and trying to keep it going.”
Woodland Christian has indeed kept rolling, remaining unbeaten at 8-0 after a dominant second half in a 47-21 win Friday night against Foresthill. The Cardinals clinched at least a share of their sixth consecutive Sacramento Metro Athletic League title.
“We’ve been busting our tails in practice,” senior Daniel Naschke said. “To come out undefeated is a big feat. We got it done. It feels good.”
Seven different players scored touchdowns for Woodland Christian, beginning with a 57-yard run from Billy Hinkle, followed by a surprise trick play for the two-point conversion. Quarterback Caden Pascoe played the decoy, appearing to be confused by the play call, all while sophomore tackle Shane Osborne snuck in under center and lofted a pass to Hayden Stapleton in the end zone to put the Cardinals up 8-0.
“He’s been begging us to let him do that play,” said Paschke.
Pascoe had three touchdown passes; a 15-yarder to Naschke, a 20-yarder to Jonathan Jaime and an 11-yarder to Stapleton. Woodland Christian also saw short scoring runs from Ryan Rifredi, Ryan Doherty and Keigi Kungu during a 37-point second half.
“We’ve just grinded through the season,” said Stapleton, who is understatedly listed at a mere 6-foot-4 on the Woodland Christian roster. “We played hard through the non-league games and just fought through the league games. We stayed on top, stayed conditioned and we were always the team on top in the second half.”
Jaime and freshman defensive lineman Jamison Barrett came away with interceptions for the Cardinals, who can wrap up the outright league crown with a win at Encina next Saturday.
Woodland Christian has now won 22 straight league games since 2016. With Division I powerhouse Folsom’s 55-game league win streak halted at Rocklin last week, only Capital Christian (50), St. Mary’s (36) and Vacaville (24) have longer active league winning streaks in the Sac-Joaquin Section than the Cardinals’ 22.
Those same seniors who initially doubted what the 2021 season could produce are now singing a different tune.
“Section title,” Jaime said. “That’s what we want. We want to go all the way. That’s the goal.”
The Cardinals (8-0, 4-0 SMAL) entered this week as the third-ranked team in CalPreps’ Division VII playoff projections. Eight teams will make the D-VII bracket, with the top four earning first-round home games.
“We all knew this is a must-win for our playoff seeding,” Paschke said. “We don’t want to go on the road. We want to stay home.”
Foresthill (7-2), meanwhile, is having its best season since 2012 under second-year head coach Mark Tumminelli. Despite the Wildfires’ blazing start, their lukewarm strength of schedule might dictate their postseason fate. Foresthill ranked 10th in the Division VII projections entering this week.
“Our mantra is don’t look any further than the game ahead of us,” Tumminelli said. “Control your football world. That only extends how far forward you can reach your arms.”
Foresthill senior defensive back Aemon Aldrich is having a breakout season in the Wildfires’ secondary. His 11 interceptions are among the leaders in the entire country.
“He’s about 5-foot-11, 145 pounds, and that’s stuffing cantaloupes down his throat,” Tumminelli said. “He’s always in the right position. He’s a ballhawk. When he gets beat, it’s usually the fact that he’s going up against 6-foot-5 guys.”
Kiernan Hammer scored twice from 8 yards out and Kole Keon caught a 49-yard touchdown pass from Ben Mercado for Foresthill (3-1 SMAL).
The Wildfires will fight for their playoff livelihood in next week’s season finale at home against Delta. Tumminelli said the small Placer County community of Foresthill has rallied behind its team.
“There are two choices you have in Foresthill on a Friday night,” Tumminelli said. “You can watch ‘I Love Lucy’ reruns or come cheer on your football team. The support for our small little team has been tremendous. It’s a small town, but it has a big heart.”
Foresthill seeks its first playoff berth since 2015.
This story was originally published October 23, 2021 at 5:11 AM.