Super Saturday: The Kings, Hornets and Republic host a major night for Sacramento sports
The Sacramento sports world has never had a night like Saturday.
Up to 45,000 fans spanning across three venues will watch Sacramento teams trying to make their marks in the sports world. The city has hosted big events before, but nothing comes close to the width and breadth of Saturday night.
At 7 p.m., Sacramento Republic will host New Mexico in a USL playoff game. Also at 7, highly touted Sacramento Kings rookie Keegan Murray is expected to make his debut against the L.A. Clippers. And at 8 p.m., the second-ranked Sacramento State football team will host seventh-ranked Montana in a game that could bump the Hornets to No. 1 in the national polls.
Said Sacramento State athletic director Mark Orr, “I’m the biggest FC fan, Kings fan and certainly the Hornets. There’s no reason all three can’t have big nights like (Saturday) more often. It’s great for the city of Sacramento. I hope all three venues are packed. As a fan of any of those teams or all of them, I’d be super-pumped.”
Sure, none of the events will make national headlines. The soccer playoff game is in a second-tier league. The college football game is in the lower-tier FCS division. The Kings’ game is the second of an 82-game regular season.
But Sacramento is a town where tennis matches played in mall parking lots have sold out. Downtown bike races have brought out thousands of people. An NBA rookie debut, a college football showdown and a playoff soccer game make for a big night in Sacramento.
You can feel the excitement, said Republic coach Mark Briggs.
“The vibe in the town, the energy in the city is extremely good,” he said, “and it’s fantastic for the city that Sac State is doing extremely well, you know, we’re going well. And obviously the Kings have just started, so it creates a bit of energy, creates a bit of excitement for the whole city and with the excitement. And with the passion that Sacramento sports fans have, I’m sure all teams will have a great crowd.”
Sacramento State showdown with Montana
Perhaps the biggest game of all is the Hornets’ showdown with Montana. Sac State has its highest poll rankings in history – second in the media poll, third in the coaches’ poll. And another rarity: The game will be broadcast on ESPN2, the only Sacramento game with a national TV audience Saturday night.
And there will be fireworks.
Sacramento is the second-highest-scoring team in the FCS, averaging 48.7 points a night. The Hornets have two talented quarterbacks – Asher O’Hara and Jake Dunniway – and bruising running back Cameron Skattebo, who is just as likely to hurdle a defender as he is to drag three linebackers into the end zone.
The Hornets have been hyping the game like none other, with social media videos aimed at getting fans to fill the 21,195-seat Hornet stadium.
“This is a big game, the biggest,” Skattebo said. “We’re hoping it sells out.”
O’Hara has challenged fans to come out for a peek, stressing that the team has earned it and that fans make for a bruising atmosphere.
“I just want to see a full, packed house,” hen said.
The Hornets have hosted about 11,000 fans at their first two home games this season. But there’s this: Since their game starts at 8 p.m., maybe a few thousand Kings and Republic fans will hurry over to catch the second half of the Sacramento State game. It’s about 15 minutes from either stadium to the Hornets’ stadium.
Sacramento Republic hosts New Mexico
Republic midfielder Matt LaGrassa starts talking about the Sacramento Kings before he’s even asked a question. He grew up in Elk Grove, back when the Kings were often the only game in town. The Republic didn’t exist. Sac State was an also-ran almost every year.
Now he’s playing for the Republic in a playoff game while the Kings and Sac State play meaningful tilts at the exact same time Saturday.
“I tell everyone that, for me, it’s unbelievable,” he said. “Just even having Sac Republic. … We didn’t have professional soccer. It wasn’t a viable career when I was growing up. …
“Now kids are going to the Kings games, that new arena and what they’re trying to generate, there’s our games and then you’ve got Sac State doing well, you know, that inspires the next generation to continue their development and, and basically look out on the field and say this could be me one day.”
For their part, the Republic have already had a memorable season. They pushed to the US Open Cup championship game in September, the first USL team with a shot at the title in more than a decade. Republic finished fourth in the Western Conference and host New Mexico – a team they tied and beat once this season – in the opening round of the playoffs. The season started with training in February and the mantra at Republic is simple: four more weeks. That’s all they have left.
The crowd figures to be solid. As of Thursday, the team had a couple thousand tickets remaining in its 12,000-seat stadium.
Even if it’s not totally full, Briggs, the head coach, said the atmosphere is always electric.
“Our crowd is so important, when they’re loud, when they’re passionate, when they’re behind the boys. They bring the 12th man for our group,” he said.
Murray could debut as Kings host Clippers
It’s just the second game of the season, but the plot lines are there to make things interesting. Kings rookie Keegan Murray seems likely to make his debut Saturday night against the Clippers. Murray has been talked about as a possible rookie of the year winner. On the other side, All-Star Kawhi Leonard is working his way back to full health and will pair with All-Star Paul George for the first full season.
The Kings were left shaking their heads after a 115-108 loss to Portland on Wednesday, but it’s a long season, De’Aaron Fox said, and they have to move on.
“We have a back-to-back now, so you have to let this one go,” Fox said. “This was a winnable game. … We had a chance to win, but we didn’t. We’ll watch film, go to practice and get ready for this back-to-back we have this weekend.”
The Kings might have the largest crowd of all the home teams playing Saturday night, as they averaged 14,392 fans per game last season. And if things don’t go the Kings’ way, at least the Hornets’ game starts at 8 p.m.; fans could still switch stadiums and catch a game with national interest.
Of course, not everybody is free to go to a game Saturday night. People have kids and jobs to deal with. So there’s another option that should draw a decent crowd Sunday: Ironman California. Unlike Saturday’s time crunch and parking problems, Sunday’s competition is much easier. Simply park near the course, walk over and clap for a competitor.
This story was originally published October 21, 2022 at 5:00 AM.