Prep football: Rocklin advances to Division I final with dramatic win over St. Mary’s
The undefeated season for the Rocklin High School football team came down to the right cleats of MacGregor TeSelle on Friday night.
Twice, TeSelle delivered, and the Thunder lived to see another day after surviving a Sac-Joaquin Section Division I semifinal, beating St. Mary’s of Stockton 51-48 after a wild final three minutes of play.
Trailing by 10 with 2:42 to play, Rocklin quarterback Joey Roberts found Nathan Kent for a quick touchdown and then the Thunder got a stop on defense with a minute and change left to keep hope alive. But Rocklin still needed a field goal to at least tie the game.
No problem. The offense quickly got down to the 23-yard line and TeSelle drilled a 40-yard field goal to tie the game.
On St. Mary’s ensuing possession, Kyran Bell intercepted a pass with 38 seconds left. A scramble by Roberts and a late hit by St. Mary’s helped Rocklin move the ball at the Rams’ 20-yard line. TeSelle stepped onto the field, walking on and off after being iced with timeouts by the St. Mary’s sideline. TeSelle drilled his 37-yard attempt with plenty of room to spare as the Rocklin crowd roared.
“When they iced me the first time, I thought it was normal,” TeSelle said. “When they iced me the second time, I took it as disrespect. I wanted to send them packing. It feels great to do it and go to the championship.”
He added on both kicks, “There is obviously going to be nerves, but it’s just going out there and doing what I do. It was nothing new.”
Then emotions. Fans ran onto the Rocklin turf. Thunder players collapsed after they hugged anyone they could find. Then everyone ran to salute the crowd with the school fight song playing. The ending was something out of a movie.
“The (ending) was an out-of-body experience,” Rocklin offensive coordinator Tim Kenney said. “During the bye week, we worked on these special situations and we told the kids you should be going to bed dreaming about this. To do three (no huddle) drives at the end of the game, that’s what legends are made of.”
Rocklin’s defense allowed only 59 points in 11 games coming in but was stretched by the prolific Rams. St. Mary’s came in with a 10-game winning streak because of its offensive balance and speed. But the Rocklin defense made plays when it mattered most. Rocklin junior Derek Houston had a strip sack return for a touchdown that injected life into the team during the rally. After Houston made the play in the third quarter, Rocklin’s sideline and crowd got into the game.
St. Mary led 14-0 early after UCLA-bound senior Jadyn Marshall returned the opening kick for a touchdown. On the ensuing kick, St. Mary’s recovered a pooch kick, and then Asante Carter scored a few plays later. He finished with four touchdowns.
Despite trailing 28-17 at the half, Rocklin’s run game looked promising, with Anthony Johnston leading the charge. Johnston finished with 127 yards and had touchdown runs of 13 and 25 yards. Roberts was surgical in the second half. He had a pair of touchdown strikes to Kent and also ran in a short touchdown to give Rocklin a 38-35 lead in the final moments of the third quarter.
“It’s surreal, insane,” Roberts said. “You almost don’t even dream of those moments. That was the craziest thing in my life. Our offensive line battled the whole game against a really good St. Mary’s defensive line.”
Rocklin will face the winner of Saturday’s Jesuit-Folsom winner on Friday night at Sacramento City College for the championship. Rocklin’s only section title win came in 2009, in D-II. The Thunder lost the section final to Del Oro in 2005 and 2015. At 12-0, they hope this is the year they break though again.
Now practice stretches into a holiday week.
“It’s been a personal goal of mine,” Kenney said of being able to practice on Thanksgiving. “I’ve never been able to do that. It means something special. We knew we had something special here. Today we really got tested.”
Sac-Joaquin Section
Division I
Rocklin 51, St. Mary’s 48
Folsom at Jesuit, 1 p.m., Saturday
Championship
No. 1 Rocklin vs. Folsom/Jesuit
Friday, 7 p.m.
At Sacramento City College
Division II
Central Catholic 35, Antelope 0
Monterey Trail 27, Elk Grove 23
Championship
No. 1 Central Catholic vs. No. 11 Monterey Trail
Saturday, 6 p.m.
At Sacramento City College
Division III
Oakdale 33, Patterson 7
Manteca 27, Lincoln 3
Championship
No. 1 Oakdale vs. No. 3 Manteca
Friday, 7 p.m.
At St. Mary’s High School
Division IV
Merced 51, Kimball 50
Vanden 67, Vista del Lago 27
Championship
No. 2 Vanden vs. No. 4 Merced
Saturday, 1 p.m.
At St. Mary’s High School
Division V
Escalon 34, Ripon 10
Hilmar 41, Casa Roble 8
Championship
No. 6 Hilmar at No. 1 Escalon
Saturday, 6 p.m.
At St. Mary’s High School
Division VI
Rosemont 18, Bradshaw Christian 13
Argonaut 37, Livingston 24
Championship
No. 2 Argonaut vs. No. 5 Rosemont
Saturday, 1 p.m.
At Sacramento City College
Division VI
Woodland Chrisitian 36, Esparto 32
Championship
No. 1 Woodland Christian vs. No. 3 Le Grand
Friday, 2 p.m.
At Sacramento City College
This story was originally published November 20, 2021 at 6:29 AM.