Prep football: Elk Grove thunders past Jesuit to take the Delta League championship
In the dog days of summer, Elk Grove High School football coaches weren’t sure who they had at quarterback beyond eager guys willing to learn and lead.
Then David Hale emerged.
The sophomore embraced his role as the key to the Thundering Herd’s tricky flex-bone run game — when to pitch the ball, when to hold it, and when to throw it to keep teams honest.
On Friday night in Elk Grove, Hale did his job and then some, steering the No. 7 Thundering Herd past No. 6 Jesuit 34-21 to clinch at least a share of the Delta League championship.
If Elk Grove beats Franklin in a regular-season finale at home on Senior Night, then it wins the Delta outright with a 5-0 league mark and bounds into the Division I playoffs as a dangerous threat. The field will include Folsom, St. Mary’s of Stockton and Monterey Trail, among others.
Elk Grove won the section D-II championship in 2019, the first for longtime coaches John Heffernan and James Pale. Heffernan chose Hale as his quarterback this season, and Pale beamed again Friday knowing his Stanford-bound son Simi Pale is a force in the trenches.
It all clicked marvelously as Elk Grove (6-3, 5-0) thundered to a 14-0 first-quarter lead, capitalizing on two Jesuit turnovers. Hale’s 7-yard touchdown strike to Dylan Archuleta made it 14-0. The Herd led 28-7 lead when Hale fired an 11-yard touchdown pass to Nico Perez.
Hale also rushed for 91 yards. Mason Vasquez ran for 111. He opened the scoring with a 19-yard run and capped it with a 7-yard score with 1:25 left. Vasquez’s touchdown finished a time-consuming, back-breaking drive as the Herd won their fifth consecutive game and exacted a measure of revenge on Jesuit (7-2, 4-1). The Marauders beat the Herd last fall to win the Delta. Jeremiah Rosales added 110 yards rushing for Elk Grove.
Hale took assumed command early this season and isn’t about to let up. His teammates won’t let him.
“He’s demonstrated a lot of maturity,” Pale said. “It took him a few games to get used to the headlights but he really makes our offense flow. He’s like our engine. Without him doing all of that, we’re not the same. He’s our guy.”
And he’s a guy who comes from good football lineage. His father, also David Hale, was an impressive quarterback for Valley High’s greatest team, the 12-1 squad of 1995. Father coached up his son when he grew up, and he bear-hugged his kid Friday night.
“I love being an option quarterback,” Hale said. “Being the new guy wasn’t easy, and the role isn’t easy, but I love it. It’s a hell of a time when it’s all working, but I couldn’t do it without the Hammerheads on the line. They’re my best friends. I need to take them out to lunch.”
Heffernan warded off a nasty cold this week and was dressed as if it the game-time temperatures would dip into the 30s. His illness was bad enough that he actually missed a practice, “for the first time ever,” he said. The coach was all smiles after the win.
“I’m ecstatic,” he said of the effort and the magnitude of the triumph. “These guys have come a long way. Great effort. The kids played with tremendous effort. That’s a really good football team at Jesuit. Our kids kept battling. No quit, no stop in them.”
On his emerging quarterback, Heffernan said, “He keeps getting better and better. He’s a threat. It’s not easy learning when to pull it or pitch it. It makes all the difference when we’re executing. We’re excited.”
Jesuit was paced by Antony Seibles, who scored two rushing touchdowns, and Jagger Shaddix, who had a 15-yard touchdown run. The Marauders cap the Delta slate with a home game against Davis and then enter the D-II playoff field capable of winning a section title. The playoffs start Nov. 4.