Ryder Lyons to the rescue: Sophomore QB lifts Folsom over Oak Ridge in championship game
Ryder Lyons emerged from this scrap late Friday night with his share of welts, bruises and abrasions, courtesy of some old friends from El Dorado Hills.
But the Folsom High School sophomore quarterback was the one bearing the broad grin with an expression of pride and relief amid the chill inside Hughes Stadium. His 10-yard touchdown up the middle with 34 seconds left lifted the top-seeded Bulldogs past No. 2 Oak Ridge 34-27 in a terrific CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division I championship.
“I love these guys so much, and we live for moments like this,” Lyons said while praising teammates and coaches for the job well done. “I put a lot of pressure on myself to play well, but it’s not just me. We have a whole team here.”
Folsom three-peated as champions, winning its 10th blue banner since 2010 and 12th overall, all since 1989. The Bulldogs expected to be good to great this season, but how good would their rising-fast quarterback be? He rates anywhere from superb to outstanding, be it his ability to scramble or fire passes deep, and he has answered every challenge placed in front of him.
At 6-foot-3 and 205 pounds, Lyons is a load when he runs it. He rushed 23 times for 52 tough yards and two touchdowns against the stout Oak Ridge defense to give him 19 running TDs this fall. He passed for 264 yards and three scores, giving him 3,218 yards and 36 TDs this season, one that will extend at least another week.
All section champions in California advance to a Northern California or Southern California regional final next weekend at home sites. The CIF will release those brackets on Sunday by 2 p.m.
Oak Ridge struck first when Joaquin Graves-Mercado hit a streaking Jadon Anderson on his team’s first drive. Lyons countered with a 17-yard scoring run, later adding TD passes of 15 yards to Beckham Andrus for a 13-7 lead and a 24-yarder to Jameson Powell for a 20-7 lead.
Oak Ridge pulled to within 20-10 on Alex Henslee’s 31-yard field goal on the last play of the half. Graves-Mercado narrowed it to 20-17 with a 31-yard TD pass to Adam Feuerbach to open the third quarter. Henslee’s 29-yard field goal with 3:18 left in the third tied it at 20-20.
Lyons found Taniela Tupou for a 31-yard TD strike with 25 seconds left in the third to make it 27-20. Erick Orme’s 3-yard TD run with 7:31 left to play produced Oak Ridge’s final points. On the winning drive, Lyons hit Powell for a 40-yard pass play before a 15-yard Trojans personal foul moved the ball to the Oak Ridge 14.
Lyons ended it a moment later as Folsom topped its chief rival for the 21st consecutive time, dating back to 2006.
Earlier this season in a Sierra Foothill League opener, Lyons passed for 411 yards and accounted for five touchdowns in a 42-21 Folsom victory to serve notice within the top league in Northern California that the kid had arrived. Lyons lives in El Dorado Hills, the home base for Oak Ridge, but he has been at Folsom since his freshman year, following his prep All-American tight end brother, Walker, who will play on scholarship at USC after he finishes his Mormon mission obligations.
Twenty-three of Oak Ridge’s seniors reside in El Dorado Hills, having tasted success against Folsom teams in youth ball and as freshmen. Sixteen Folsom starters are products from Folsom’s youth feeder program, including the program’s first four-year starter in lineman Lucas Hardeman, who played big again on Friday.
But so much of what Folsom does starts with the quarterback, dating back to when the program rose back to power in 2009. The quarterback tradition includes record setters such as Jake Browning, who led Folsom’s 16-0 state-title team of 2014 and now starts for the Cincinnati Bengals.
“That No. 3, Lyons, he’s really good, eh?” Folsom coach Paul Doherty asked, already knowing the answer as The Bee’s Player of the Year race has been narrowed to Lyons and Grant star running back Wayshawn Parker.
Doherty said he appreciates the championship grit of Folsom, which was expected to repeat as The Bee’s top-ranked team all season.
“It’s so hard to win these,” Doherty said. “We’ve got a target on our back. Graduation hits us hard every year. Everybody’s out to beat us. We’re just so proud. It’s different every year, and the kids really enjoy this. They like it more than I do, the stress of a season. They handled it so well.”
Doherty reminded his players to take none of the journey and grind for granted. He played high school ball in the Bay Area and never sampled this sort of success.
“What more can you ask for?” Doherty said. “They’re coming after you, Oak Ridge, and they’re playing well, and they punched us first with that first touchdown, and we came back. Our guys will remember this game for the rest of their lives. It’s what you want your kids to experience. I never had that. I never played in a playoff game. They’re just spoiled and they know it, and they deserve it. It’s pretty awesome.”
Oak Ridge coach Casey Taylor was in his 12th section final, seeking his eight championship and first with his alma mater. He thanked his team for a special season and said their time is coming.
“We’re proud of our effort,” he said. “Obviously, it hurts a lot. We’ve worked our butts off all year and it comes down to a couple of plays.”
This story was originally published November 24, 2023 at 11:04 PM.