Prep football highlights: Rocklin edges Whitney; Sheldon holds off Cosumnes Oaks
Kickers make a difference in this sport, and sometimes, they win games.
On Friday night in Placer County, Logan Pandis drilled a 39-yard field goal in the closing seconds to lift No. 7 Rocklin past No. 15 Whitney 13-10 in a Sierra Foothill League opener between fierce rivals. This game is known as the Quarry Bowl, and there was Pandis holding up the trophy, a slab of rock that lists all the scores of this rivalry, which will soon show that Rocklin has won the last seven meetings. The series started in 2010.
Pandis also had a 25-yard field goal and Elias Brown had an 18-yard touchdown run for the Thunder, who moved to 5-1. Isaiah Bickham had a 1-yard scoring run and Ryan Eisert a 31-yard field goal to tie it 10-10. With less than a minute to play, Rocklin quarterback Joey Roberts led the winning drive.
In other games:
▪ No. 1 Folsom beat No. 4 Oak Ridge 42-13 in the SFL as Austin Mack fired six touchdown passes, three to Rico Flores, Jr., and the Bulldogs shut out the Trojans in the second half. Folsom has beaten Oak Ridge 17 consecutive times, dating to 2006.
▪ No. 3 Monterey Trail beat Burbank 56-0 as Vontrelle Waffer ran for two touchdowns and recovered a fumble for a score, Jervin Navarro rushed for 112 yards and two scores and Davon Chism had three sacks as the Mustangs moved to 5-2.
▪ No. 5 Del Oro beat No. 2 Granite Bay 21-10 in a meeting of 5-0 SFL rivals as Thomas Graham II returned a punt 60 yards for a touchdown and Caden Pinnick had two touchdowns. Del Oro won the turnover battle and leads the all-time series 14-13.
▪ No. 6 Jesuit suffered its first loss, falling at home to Bay Area power Clayton Valley Charter of Concord, 35-21, despite two touchdowns from quarterback CJ Lee.
▪ No. 8 Sheldon held off upstart Cosumnes Oaks 14-10 when Fereni Fa’anati sealed it with a fourth-down pass deflection in the end zone and the Huskies ran out the clock from there in a Delta League thriller. Scott Nixon rushed for 132 yards and two touchdowns for Sheldon (5-2).
▪ No. 9 Placer rolled Rio Linda 63-7 in Foothill Valley League play as Baylor Kelley carried seven times for 157 yards and two touchdowns and Jaden Suggs had five rushes for 146 yards and two scores as the Hillmen moved to 6-0.
▪ No. 10 ElK Grove raced past Davis 57-0 in the Delta as Mason Vasquez rushed for 152 yards, including a 77-yard touchdown, and the Thundering Herd came up with four interceptions to move to 3-3. Chris Dodson, Salesi Kafovalu, Isean Liu and Wayshawn Parker had interceptions for Elk Grove.
▪ No. 13 Christian Brothers beat Capital Christian 35-0 in the Capital Athletic League. William Littlejohn had two touchdown passes and Deakon Holden one, and Ezekiel Castex rushed 13 times for 123 yards and a score to move the Falcons to 5-2. CB had three interceptions, with Marcus Price returning one for a touchdown.
▪ No. 14 Casa Roble blasted previously unbeaten Mesa Verde 70-0 in the Golden Empire League as Connor Campbell completed 10 of 12 passes for 190 yards and four touchdowns, three of them to Cole Owens, who had seven catches for 155 yards. Josh Taylor rushed five times for 165 yards and three scores for the Rams, who are 5-1.
▪ No. 18 Liberty Ranch beat El Dorado 42-14 in the Sierra Valley Conference as Kymani Fenika passed for a touchdown and ran for one, and Arthur Draeger rushed 16 times for 161 yards and a score as the Hawks improved to 6-0. Fenika, Shaye Setter and Armando Tapia each had interceptions for Liberty Ranch.
▪ No. 19 West Park beat Oakmont 59-21 in the PVL as Develle Barksdale passed for four touchdowns and Braden Shinault led the defense with eight tackles for the 6-0 Panthers.
▪ No. 20 Inderkum beat Bella Vista 63-7 in the CVC as Giovanni Jorlen rushed 12 times for 106 yards and four touchdowns. Dontay Hardy led the defense with 11 tackles and two of his team’s six sacks to move to 4-3.
▪ No. 21 Woodcreek beat Hiram Johnson 49-28 in nonleague as Wyatt Harris ran for 85 yards on five carries and two touchdowns - and he deflected three passes on defense. Hakeem Anderson rushed for 115 yards and a touchdown for Woodcreek (4-2). Jhayson Fowler passed for 128 yards and two touchdowns and he ran for 208 and two for Johnson (5-2).
▪ No. 23 Laguna Creek beat Kennedy 42-6 as Jalim Tholley scored three touchdowns, Malachi Bean-Seay two, and Gio Molina had two interceptions to lead the defense, returning one for a touchdown.
▪ Pioneer beat crosstown rival Woodland 27-21 in the GEL as Carson King had two touchdown passes to Haiden Aletto, and Jack Carner rushed 36 times for 189 yards and two scores as the Patriots improved to 5-1.
▪ Twelve Bridges beat Center 39-27 to move to 6-1 as a first-year varsity program as Whit Kruse passed for 348 yards and two touchdowns, and Anthony Gallagher raced in 52 yards untouched to seal it with 4:44 left.
▪ Nas Jones rushed 32 times for 279 yards and three touchdowns to power Del Campo past Sacramento 35-27 in the Capital Athletic League. Angel Reyna and Richardson Johnson also scored for Del Campo.
▪ Valley Christian beat Foresthill 22-14 with VCA scoring the final two touchdowns on Thomas Rominger passing strikes of 48 and 38 yards to Chase Clary. Sean Fleming had a 5-yard touchdown for VCA, and Ben Mercado had two touchdown passes for Foresthill, playing its first game since the start of the Sept. 6 Mosquito fire ravaged their region, leading to mass evacuations. VCA is 5-1, the best start in school history.
▪ Dixon beat Rio Linda 47-6 in the GEL as Jett Harris completed 15 of 23 passes for 353 yards and four touchdowns, two to Luis Torres, as the Rams improved to 5-1.
▪ T.Q. Wallace had two touchdowns for Franklin, which beat Pleasant Grove 47-16 in the Delta League to move to 2-5.
▪ Marysville beat Colfax 26-7 in the PVL as Kayden Ellyson rushed for 129 yards and two scores, and Joseph Endicott and Danny Lanini each ran for touchdowns to move the Indians to 4-2.
This story was originally published October 1, 2022 at 2:41 PM.