Prep football: Casa Roble downs Dixon to take league title as the playoffs loom
For some sophomores, the burden of leading a varsity football program can be a bit too much. They cave under pressure.
Not Conner Campbell. He embraced the challenge to steer the Casa Roble Rams, securing the job for a storied program accustomed to quarterback excellence during summer 7-on-7 drills.
On Friday night in Orangevale, Campbell kept the momentum rolling. He passed for 232 yards and had touchdown strikes of 27 and 70 yards to a quarterback’s best friend, the dynamic-yet-humble Cole Owens, to lead the No. 15 Rams past No. 25 Dixon 41-14. Casa Roble captured the Golden Empire League championship with the win.
The 9-1 Rams will be a high seed in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division IV playoffs that start Nov. 4. Seedings will be announced by the section office at 1:30 p.m. Sunday.
“He’s been big time,” Casa Roble’s spirited coach Chris Horner said. “He plays composed. He’s tough, stays in the pocket.”
He’s also a young man without a nickname. These Rams have players with cool names, including Owens, whom Horner calls, “Cyborg,” and hard-charging running back Josh Taylor goes by “Tarzan” because, “he never misses a chance to be without his shirt,” his coach said.
Campbell? Still working on his nickname. Maybe something simple and apt such as “Steady” might work.
And he wasn’t the only sophomore to make noise on senior night.
Running back Braylen Blevins was called up from the junior varsity ranks this week for tailback depth. When Taylor was slowed by a leg strain Friday, in came the kid, and there went the kid. He rushed for 103 yards on 11 carries and had scoring runs of 3 and 5 yards to blow it open, his second score making it 35-14.
Moments later, Campbell found the streaking Owens on that 70-yard touchdown strike. Owens bobbled it for a second and then was gone.
“I love my role with this team,” Campbell said. “It’s great having such a good line and receivers all over. I love our chances in the playoffs.”
Horner made it simple for his emerging quarterback, who has 32 touchdowns this season, down the stretch.
“Let’s feed the rock to the kid,” Horner said in reference to Blevins. “I told Blevins that we needed him this week. If anything happens to Josh Taylor, he’s the guy. He was great. He’s a man child.”
Casa Roble players were ecstatic about the victory, hamming it up for a team photo afterward, including defensive leader Evan Combs. He had a dazzling, zig-zag 75-yard interception return for a score to make it 21-0 with 6:34 to go in the third quarter. Six Dixon players had a shot at him and they all missed.
Horner and the entire Rams sideline jumped out of their collective skins watching Combs return it the distance.
“Oh my God!” Horner said after the game. “I kept wondering, ‘Is he still up?’ He’s a maniac. That’s the craziest thing I’ve ever seen. I was hugging Cole Owens just because.”
The Rams also delighted in a shot to pay back the Rams of Dixon. A year ago, Dixon beat Casa Roble with a late stop to win the GEL.
So, do league championships still matter?
“Oh yeah! Of course they do!” Horner said. “You work so hard for this.”
Dixon will be in the D-V playoffs and will be a difficult draw as long as Jett Harris is leading the way. The senior quarterback had a 10-yard touchdown to Brent Green to cut Casa Roble’s lead to 21-7, and he passed for 192 yards, but Casa Roble was too much. Unsung Casa Roble grinders such as Dylan Saucedo played well on defense. He is the team’s only senior team captain. Another unsung senior is Garrett Cavali, a 6-foot-5, 185 pounder who recovered two Dixon onside kicks.
“It takes everybody,” Horner said.
This story was originally published October 28, 2022 at 10:59 PM.