QB Caden Pinnick leads Del Oro over Laguna Creek to set up playoff showdown with Jesuit

The Del Oro Golden Eagles feel they have yet to play their best game.

That message was echoed loud and clear in the postgame huddle by offensive coordinator Josh Parry, a bear of a man and one of the most fiery coaches around.

But Parry’s message was delivered with a calm and cool fire after a first-round playoff win Friday in Loomis, reassuring his team that if they played their brand of football, “Nobody wants to see us.”

Sixth-seeded Del Oro held down its home field for perhaps the final time this season with a 37-23 victory over No. 11 Laguna Creek in a Sac-Joaquin Section Division II playoff opener.

Del Oro (7-4) entered Friday missing its top receiver in Sacramento State commit Tommy Poe, who hasn’t played since Oct. 13 due to injury. But senior Beaux Sauve had his fingerprints all over Del Oro’s win.

Sauve recovered two fumbles, including one he stripped from the grasp of a Laguna Creek ball carrier for a touchdown return. He also recorded his team-leading eighth TD catch of the season while essentially set up living space in the Cardinals’ backfield all night.

“He actually had quite a performance,” Del Oro coach Mike Maben said of Sauve. “He’s gotten more opportunities to get looks and it kind of shows what a good athlete he is and what a good player he can be.”

Sauve’s defensive presence was felt throughout the game. Sacks, tipped passes, quarterback hurries — Sauve had everything in his arsenal working.

“I just feel like I’m super underrated,” Sauve said after the game. “Every time I go on the field, I’m just trying to prove myself to everybody.”

Quarterback Caden Pinnick threw three touchdown passes to Sauve, Robert Garcia and Jackson Malbrough to lead Del Oro offensively. But, echoing Parry’s postgame message, Pinnick admitted the Golden Eagles still have work to do to remain in this postseason.

“We can’t be satisfied,” Pinnick said. “I think we got too complacent with what we had. We were satisfied with 37 (points). I feel like going into next week, we can’t be satisfied. We’re always gonna want more.”

Del Oro stuck early, often and efficiently in the first half. On their opening drive, the Golden Eagles only needed two plays to score as Garcia took a 40-yard draw to the house to make it a quick 7-0. On the ensuing Laguna Creek drive, Sauve returned his strip-fumble for a 35-yard defensive score.

After a 35-yard field goal from Cameron Smith made it 17-0 Del Oro, Laguna Creek used defense to create offense as Armon Thorntona’s first interception of the season came at an opportune moment early in the second quarter. Thorntona appropriately finished what he started for Laguna Creek with a 7-yard touchdown run to get the Cardinals on the board 17-7 with eight minutes left.

Pinnick found Garcia and Sauve for 7- and 10-yard scores, respectively, to close the half with Del Oro in front 31-7.

Pinnick’s 29-yard TD hookup with Malbrough initiated the second-half scoring and made it 37-7, but the Cardinals refused to go away quietly in the fourth quarter.

Laguna Creek’s defense held on a goal-line stand early in the fourth and responded with a 99-yard drive ending in a 4-yard TD pass from Mitchell Labrado to Halim Tholley. Tariq Booth scored on a 1-yard run on the following Cardinal drive and their defense came up with a safety to make it 37-23 with two minutes to play.

Laguna Creek had an opportunity to shrink the gap even more, but a Jayden Steel interception sealed the Del Oro win.

“They played their hearts out tonight,” Maben said of Laguna Creek. “They had some talented athletes who were able to make some pretty athletic plays out there, and I thought they fought hard and did well. They should be proud.”

Laguna Creek (7-4) was in its first playoff game since 2016, coincidentally also against Del Oro. Head coach Ryan Nill is a Cardinals alum whose father, Mark Nill, was the first varsity head coach for Laguna Creek when it opened in the mid-90s.

“Win or lose, they helped us progress the football program,” Ryan Nill said. “They put their stamp on it. When I took over, it was a year after they went 1-9, so we’ve gotten better, and I think we’re moving in the right direction.”

Next for Del Oro

Del Oro’s win sets up a section quarterfinal next Saturday afternoon at third-seeded Jesuit (9-1) and what promises to be a phenomenal matchup of dynamic QBs. Pinnick of Del Oro and CJ Lee of Jesuit are two of the top dual-threat QBs in the section and both are potential candidates for The Bee’s Player of the Year award.

“CJ is a great quarterback. He does what he does in the Jesuit offense, so hats off to him,” Pinnick said of his QB counterpoint next week. “But at this point, I’m not really focused on him. I’m more focused on our guys and taking them past Jesuit, past Rocklin and doing what we know our expectations are to be.”

This story was originally published November 3, 2023 at 11:35 PM.