QB Ryder Lyons helps No. 1 Folsom beat No. 2 Rocklin in Sierra Foothill League showdown
Nobody can take away the Rocklin Thunder’s tremendous start to the 2023 football season.
Nobody can argue Rocklin isn’t a top candidate to play for a Sac-Joaquin Section Division II championship later in November. And Rocklin will always be the first team to lay claim to the feat of taking down the mighty Folsom Bulldogs, back in 2021, in a Sierra Foothill League game.
But the Bulldogs will be the first to remind everyone in the SFL and beyond that they are still the top dogs in these parts.
Folsom, ranked No. 1 by The Sacramento Bee, delivered a clear message to all those who doubt the resolve and staying power of the Bulldogs with a 34-21 victory at No. 2 Rocklin on Friday night.
“It’s just all noise,” Folsom quarterback Ryder Lyons said. “We try to not let that get to us. We try to just do our job and focus on ourselves, and we came here and got the dub.”
Lyons, Folsom’s sophomore star, played well beyond his years. He went 16 of 23 for 231 yards and three touchdowns in the air and ran for 50 yards and two scores, inviting contact to extend big runs and leading his Bulldogs to a commanding victory.
“I just love that he’s getting better and that he knows he’s got a long way to go,” Folsom head coach Paul Doherty said. “He’s a great player. He’s making a ton of plays, but he knows he’s got to get a lot better for this team to get to where it wants to go.”
In a showdown between standout sophomore quarterbacks, Lyons’ Bulldogs bested Reeve Slone’s Thunder in the first matchup of what promises to be a terrific QB rivalry in the SFL for the next two years.
Slone completed 11 of 24 passes for 170 yards and a touchdown and also ran for 37 more with a score, showing resilience and grit in trying to lead Rocklin to a comeback.
“He’s a great player,” Lyons said of Slone, his QB counterpart. “He’s fast. He plays with passion. He’s really a baller. It’s gonna be fun playing against him.”
In 2021, Rocklin became the first team to beat Folsom since the Bulldogs joined the SFL in 2014. That 40-7 win snapped a streak of 44 consecutive SFL wins and a 55-game overall league winning streak dating back to 2011. Folsom, however, rebounded from a 4-2 SFL campaign to rage through the Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs and ultimately exacted revenge on Rocklin with a 20-3 championship game victory.
But all of that seems like ancient history to these teams in 2023. Folsom was locked into the present Friday, seizing opportunities early and capitalizing often on Rocklin miscues.
Folsom scored on its first two possessions as Lyons found fellow sophomore Jameson Powell for a 34-yard touchdown and then hit Brian Ray III on a 1-yard shovel pass to make it 14-0 midway through the first quarter.
The Thunder manufactured an 86-yard scoring drive, capped by a 7-yard scamper from Slone, to close the half at 14-7.
Folsom took advantage of two Rocklin fumbles and a blocked punt from Jaron Hodson on special teams. The Bulldogs then capitalized with an 11-yard TD run from Lyons, an 18-yard TD toss from Lyons to Ray and another scoring run from Lyons from 5 yards out that put Folsom in front 34-7 with 5:36 to go in the game.
Folsom never took Rocklin, nor any other team on its schedule, lightly.
“All the games are big,” Doherty said. “We expect to just get better every week and play well every week to be able to play the big ones again in the end.”
Rocklin (6-1, 1-1 SFL) finishes its regular season slate at home against Del Oro next week followed by two road games at Granite Bay on Oct. 20 and Oak Ridge on Oct. 27. Folsom (5-2, 2-0 SFL) hosts Whitney next week before traveling to Del Oro on Oct. 20. The Bulldogs close their regular season at home against Granite Bay on Oct. 27.
This story was originally published October 6, 2023 at 11:48 PM.