Prep football roundup: Top-ranked Rocklin rolls, Monterey Trail upsets Granite Bay
The steady quarterback play of Joey Roberts, the solid running of Anthony Johnson and the big-play ability of speedy receiver and freshly named Sierra Foothill League MVP Elias Mullican set the offensive pace for top-seeded Rocklin High School in a 42-0 triumph of No. 8 Sheldon on Friday night in a CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division I quarterfinal.
Oh, and the defense. That unit bottled up the prolific Huskies of the Delta League, a team that came in at 8-3. Rocklin’s starting defense has allowed three touchdowns this season, a paramount reason the Thunder earned the top seed in the largest-school bracket. It was 14-0 after the first period and 28-0 at the half as reserves took over in the third quarter for the Thunder, who moved to 11-0 and into next week’s semifinal against longtime Stockton power St. Mary’s, which beat Edison of Stockton in another Friday quarterfinal.
Folsom 38, Lincoln 14 in Folsom: In his first game back from injury since Oct. 8, Tyler Tremain had touchdown strikes of 45 and 20 yards to Austin McMillan, and Toure Hendrick scored two rushing touchdowns to power the No. 3-seeded Bulldogs past the No. 6 Trojans of Stockton in Division I. No. 2 Jesuit hosts No. 7 Del Oro on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. to round out the D-I bracket.
Slade Wilson had three interceptions for Folsom, including an interception return for a score at the end of the third quarter A senior star, Tremain was knocked out of a loss against De La Salle with a non-throwing shoulder injury. Folsom (8-3) had an opening-round bye after losing three of its final four regular-season games.
Monterey Trail 35, Granite Bay 24 in Granite Bay: Ali Collier scored two rushing touchdowns, including a 72-yarder in the fog for a 35-17 lead with 1:41 to go, and the No. 7 Mustangs downed the No. 2 Grizzlies to set up a showdown of Elk Grove Unified School District programs. No. 6 Elk Grove will host Monterey Trail in a semifinal Friday.
Collier’s 34-yard scoring run pushed Monterey Trail ahead 28-17 with 11:06 to play. Daelin Ellis, Frank Arcuri and Brevin Amiga also scored for Monterey Trail, which started the season 0-5 amid a difficult schedule and is now 7-5.
Elk Grove 52, Vacaville 48 in Vacaville: Ethan Archuleta rushed for 231 yards and two touchdowns and Zeke Burnett went for 139 yards and two scores, including the game winning 24-yard effort with 1:24 to go to lift the Thundering Herd in Division II.
Elk Grove has gone 5-1 against Vacaville in the playoffs since 2004. Vacaville senior stars Ryan Vaughan, Darian Leon-Guerrero and Timothy Plowman combined for seven scores as the Bulldogs capped an 8-3 season with the first playoff game on newly refurbished Tom Zunino Stadium.
Antelope 20, Whitney 14 at Antelope: A 37-yard double-pass to the 4-yard line with no timeouts and the clock running at 11 seconds set up Curron Borders’ 4-yard touchdown in a dramatic Division II finish in the fog.
Borders came in averaging 220 yards a game but managed just 42 on 20 carries as the tough defense of Whitney held him to a season-low total. Jasiah Bateman took advantage of the boxed-in Whitney defense and had touchdown strikes of 78 and 76 yards in the fog as the Titans moved to 10-0 and earned a shot at top-ranked Central Catholic of Modesto in a semifinal.
Lincoln 28, Christian Brothers 21 at Lincoln: Senior defensive back Jordan Wagner intercepted a pass and returned it 75 yards as the Zebras won the school’s first playoff game in 12 years. Lincoln, which opened in 1907, has never won a section title. The No.2-seed Zebras will face No. 3 Manteca in a Friday Division III semifinal.
Casa Roble 35, Union Mine 33 in El Dorado: Jason Lindahl rushed 18 times for 161 yards and five touchdowns, and the senior star quarterback passed for 139 as the No. 7 Rams toppled the No. 2 Diamondbacks in Division V. Josh Taylor rushed 19 times for 107 yards for Casa Roble, which visits No. 6 Hilmar next. Hilmar beat No. 3 Sonora 35-25 on Friday.
Bradshaw Christian 36, Linden 33 in Sacramento: Freshman quarterback Ethan Rickert overcame an early fourth-quarter interception to score on a 1-yard dive after his defense recovered a fumble inside the 3, and the top-seeded Pride rallied to beat the No. 8 Lions in Division VI.
Anthony Tornator’s 25-yard run with under 3 minutes to play made it 36-26 for Bradshaw Christian (10-1), which will host No. 5 Rosemont in a semifinal in a rematch of Sierra Valley Conference rivals. Bradshaw beat Rosemont 36-12 on Oct. 29. Rosemont beat Hughson 37-28 Friday.
Rosemont 37, Hughson 28 at Rosemont: The No. 5 Wolverines overcame deficits of 14-0 and 28-14 and pitched a second-half shutout to move to 10-1 and into a rematch with Bradshaw Christian.
Joseph Ortiz had a 65-yard touchdown pass to Michael Cherry to get Rosemont started, and hit him for a 37-yarder to pull to within 28-20 at the half. Cherry had a fumble return for a score, Wayshawn Parker had a 6-yard run and a safety gave Rosemont the lead for good at 30-28.
Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs
Division I
No. 1 Rocklin 42, No. 8 Sheldon 0
No. 5 St. Mary’s 29, No. 4 Edison 23
No. 3 Folsom 38, No. 6 Lincoln 14
Del Oro at Jesuit, today, 1 p.m.
Semifinals:
No. 5 St. Mary’s at No. 1 Rocklin
No. 3 Folsom vs. Jesuit/Del Oro
Division II
No. 1 Central Catholic 38, No. 9 Lodi 34
No. 4 Antelope 20, No. 5 Whitney 14
No. 6 Elk Grove 52, No. 3 Vacaville 48
No. 7 Monterey Trail 35, No. 2 Granite Bay 24
Friday semifinals:
No. 4 Antelope at No. 1 Central Catholic
No. 7 Monterey Trail at No. 6 Elk Grove
Division III
No. 1 Oakdale 40, No. 9 Roseville
No. 5 Patterson 52 No. 4 Yuba City 48
No. 3 Manteca 54, No. 6 Sacramento 14
Friday semifinals:
No. 5 Patterson at No. 1 Oakdale
No. 3 Manteca at No. 2 Lincoln
Division IV
No. 1 Kimball 44, No. 8 Wood
No. 4 Merced 56, East Union 15
No. 3 Vista del Lago 36, No. 6 Placer 21
No. 2 Vanden 61, No. 7 Dixon 0
Friday semifinals:
No. 4 Merced at No. 1 Kimball
No. 2 Vista del Lago at No. 2 Vanden
Division V
No. 1 Escalon 39, No. 8 Woodland 12
No. 5 Ripon 39, No. 4 Pioneer 20
No. 6 Hilmar 35, No. 3 Sonora 25
No. 7 Casa Roble 35, No. 2 Union Mine 33
Friday semifinals:
No. 5 Ripon at No. 1 Escalon
No. 7 Casa Roble at No. 6 Hilmar
Division VI
No. 1 Bradshaw Christian 36, No. 8 Linden 33
No. 5 Rosemont 37, No. 4 Hughson 28
No. 3 Livingston 56, No. 6 Waterford 20
No. 2 Argonaut 34, No. 7 Liberty Ranch 10
Friday semifinals:
No. 5 Rosemont at No. 1 Bradshaw Christian
No. 3 Livingston at No. 2 Argonaut
Division VII
No. 1 Woodland Christian 29, No. 8 Rio Vista 14
No. 4 Esparto, 50, No. 5 Delta 30
No. 3 Le Grand 27, No. 6 Big Valley Christian 6
No. 7 Mariposa County 7, No. 2 Vacaville Christian 6
Friday semifinals:
No. 4 Esparto at No. 1 Woodland Christian
No. 7 Mariposa County at No. 3 Le Grand