Cordova High School never trailed in its matchup with Florin of the Elk Grove Unified School District in a Greater Sacramento League football game at Mark Macres Memorial Stadium.

The Lancers, who repped their white and red jerseys, scored the first points of the game on a punt return touchdown from junior Elijah Wallace with 9:32 left in the 1st quarter.

They didn’t look back on their way to a 49-7 victory, giving them back-to-back wins for the first time this season and a chance to extend their playoff hopes.

Cordova coach JP Dolliver said the Lancers are gaining confidence as they begin to see their hard work pay off.

“I think these guys are starting to realize that they’re a pretty good football team,” Dolliver said. “I think going into the season, I think there was a little hesitancy on how good we were, but we have a lot of athletes. I have really good coaches. We have great facilities at Cordova. There’s no reason that we can’t continue to grow.”

Cordova junior quarterback Jayden Ryce threw two touchdown passes. He found senior Michael Brown on a 25-yard pass with 5:39 remaining in the first quarter. Brown reached the end zone twice. That included a 4-yard rushing touchdown to put Cordova up 21-0 after the Lancers were set up with good field position following a muffed kickoff return by Florin.

Brown said it “felt good” to get in the end zone, but he quickly turned his attention to next week’s homecoming game against Natomas.

“We’re here to send a message (that) we’re here to play,” Brown said. “We lost last year’s homecoming game. We don’t want to lose again.”

Ryce’s other touchdown came on a 45-yard pass to Damajae Moses, who ran for an extra 20 yards and stiff-armed a Florin defender on his way to the end zone. It was his seventh touchdown of the season.

Moses, who was all over on the field on both sides of the ball, also nabbed an interception in the game.

“I put in the work,” Moses said. “In practice, I go full speed, as hard as I can go, working on my hands and speed.”

Moses wasn’t the only one who was making plays on both sides.

Wallace, who opened the game with a special teams score, started the second half with a 21-yard touchdown. He also had an interception in the game.

“Just in the beginning ... on kick return, I just knew it was my game. So I just went off that,” Wallace said. “I was feeling good.”

Wallace has the same pregame ritual reach week, praying everyone on his team stays safe and plays up to their “full potential.”

Wallace said the team is building chemistry and feeling confident about the remainder of the season.

“We knew that we wanted to make a statement,” Dolliver said. “But at the same time, we realize, and I realize, there’s kids on the other side of that sideline, too, and there’s no reason to push the score any higher at that point. It’s get everybody reps. Let’s try to tighten up the things we’re not doing well and get some of the younger guys or guys who don’t play all the time.”

Senior Diego Cisneros was one of those guys to get in some reps.

Dolliver said Cisneros has a high IQ, but he usually plays linebacker and safety for the Lancers. Against Florin, he got some reps on offense and made “the best of it.”

Cisneros ran for a 24-yard touchdown on a counter handoff with 10:47 remaining in the game. It was the first touchdown of his high school career.

“It feels pretty good,” Cisneros said. “I know I can. It just takes opportunity.”

With two league wins, Cordova still has a chance to make a playoff appearance. The Lancers are in a three-way tie for first place in the GSL with Hiram Johnson and Foothill. They will be seeking their third consecutive victory in their 60th homecoming game when they face Natomas on Oct. 20.

Dolliver said it will be “exciting.”

“We’re going to see a very formidable opponent who’s got some pretty good athletes over there,” Dolliver said. “We get to go home. It’s homecoming, our 60-year homecoming. There’s going to be generations of alumni there. So, for me, it’s a chance to really show Cordova, the community, what we’re about, and it’s our version of Big Red. It’s able to continue some of that tradition at the same time, you know, kind of treat it as our own.”

Florin scored its only points of the game on a 12-yard pass from senior quarterback Chase Xiong to receiver Turbo Yang. The Panthers fell to 0-8 overall and 0-3 in the GSL. They will play Johnson on Oct. 20.

This story was originally published October 13, 2023 at 11:51 PM.