Prep football roundup: Touching moments, top teams roll, No. 2 Rocklin loses
Sportsmanship won the night on a full night of high school football as the season kicked off Friday.
In Elk Grove, No. 17 Oak Ridge of El Dorado Hills beat Cosumnes Oaks 56-0, and the biggest cheers were for Seabass Wells. A junior special needs student, Wells is playing football for the first time. He asked coach Casey Taylor for a chance to make the varsity roster and he got it. Wells was in on one play, in the fourth quarter, as a runner. When Nolan King scored, everyone celebrated Wells, who normally does the running and celebrating on the sideline.
“The guys were excited for Seabass,” Taylor said. “He’s a kid who loves the game, loves being part of the team. This made his day. It’s life. It’s more than just football. I saw him on the sideline, excited for his teammates, and asked him if he was ready to get in there for a play. ‘Yes, coach!’”
Taylor told Wells that he had to get used to wearing a helmet and dealing with hot weather and being held accountable. So there was Seabass one day last week, wearing his helmet in class. He looked the part then and on Friday.
▪ In Antelope at Center High, Cougars coach Digol J’Beily made sure a player who was hurting got his moment in the sun, or under the stadium lights. Robert Chiles caught a 35-yard touchdown in a 27-0 win over Rio Linda, this coming 24 hours after his father died.
▪ In Yuba City, No. 7 Sheldon crushed River Valley 78-19, a school-record for points. It could have been a great deal more had Sheldon not pulled its starters midway through the second quarter. It was 65-12 at the half as Devin Green rushed for three touchdowns and returned a punt for a score, and Jesiah Machado hit Scott Nixon for two touchdown passes on just eight pass attempts. Nixon also had two sacks on defense and Cano Marshall returned an interception for a score.
▪ In Galt, Liberty Ranch beat Bret Hart 53-0, pulling starters in the first half. Anthony Draeger carried the ball six times for 147 yards and five touchdowns.
▪ And in the southern part of the Sac-Joaquin Section, Turlock beat No. 2 Rocklin 14-7, taking a knee inside the Thunder 5 as time ran out. Austin Adams scored Rocklin’s touchdown on a 15-yard run. Rocklin went 12-1 last season, starting with a 41-0 home rout of Turlock.
Other opening-night highlights:
▪ Top-ranked Folsom beat No. 3 Monterey Trail 48-17 behind Austin Mack’s 334 yards passing and five touchdowns, including two each to Rico Flores, Jr. and Onterrio Smith, Jr., but Folsom lost Stanford-bound tight end star Walker Lyons for the season with a broken leg. Flores had 155 yards receiving, and Ali Collier had 182 all-purpose yards for Monterey Trail.
▪ In a 34-12 win at No. 4 Elk Grove, sophomore Carter Jackson scored four touchdowns to power No. 5 Granite Bay .
▪ Brandon Hill and Robert Garcia of No. 10 Del Oro each returned fumbles for touchdowns to make a 21-0 lead a 35-0 game, leading to a 35-8 victory over No. 18 Inderkum in Loomis. Caden Pinnick had a touchdown pass and a 13-yard scoring run.
▪ Backup quarterback Trevor Hargis hit Lincoln Fifer for the go-ahead 72-yard touchdown midway through the fourth quarter, and No. 13 Whitney rallied from 21-0 down to beat No. 11 Antelope 25-28. Isiah Bickham rushed for 108 yards and two scores for Whitney, and Curron Borders ran for 205 yards and two scores for Antelope.
▪ Baylor Kelley rushed for 220 yards and three touchdowns, and Isiah Hanley had a late interception to lead No. 12 Placer past No. 21 Casa Roble in Auburn.
▪ Kimmbie Drayton won his coaching debut at his alma mater as No. 14 Sacramento beat Stagg in Stockton 48-6 behind Lamar Radcliffe’s 181-yard, two-touchdown effort.
▪ In racing past host Burbank, No. 15 Christian Brothers was led by Erik Jensen’s three rushing touchdowns and two passing touchdowns by freshman Deakon Holden.
▪ Oak Ridge beat Cosumnes Oaks 56-0 as Jake Hall, Dwight Martin and Maddox Varella each accounted for two touchdowns. Martin had two interceptions.
▪ In a 49-12 win over River City in West Sacramento, No. 24 Lincoln had two rushing touchdowns from Ryan Hennig and a touchdown run by Thomas Mukai and a touchdown pass from Mukai to Hayden Dotson.
▪ JoJo McCray had four touchdown passes to four different receivers, and Dubee Lopa had an interception return for a score as Grant rolled McQueen of Reno 42-0 to give Carl Reed his first coaching victory at his alma mater.
▪ In rolling Cordova 48-14, visiting Bella Vista received 195 yards passing and two touchdowns to Damian Rickett, and he rushed for two scores and two point-after touchdowns. Nolan Berhard rushed for 108 yards and two scores for the Broncos.
▪ In beating Western Sierra, Highlands freshman quarterback Walter Lewis passed for two touchdowns and ran for two, and Mike Augustus and Covon Wheeler each scored twice.
▪ Tyler Heuseveldt had three interceptions and Cole Stowers had a twisting, escaping touchdown run in Bear River’s 28-18 victory over Kennedy.
▪ In a 38-0 home effort over Golden Sierra, Caden Pascoe had three touchdown passes, one to Jace Moore, who also scored on a 5-yard run.
▪ In a 27-14 road win at Amador, Anthony Mahaffey fired four touchdown passes, two each to Devon Hurst and Devin Finau, and the Cougars pitched a second-half shutout, to give Kevin Placek his first victory as a head coach.
▪ Mekhei Byrd scored three touchdowns, each of highlight variety, to lead Natomas past Esparto 40-21.