The Casa Roble Rams headed to Santa Cruz County on Friday night with the intent of extending their dream season against an opponent they knew little about.

It didn’t happen, but it wasn’t for a lack of effort.

Soquel beat Casa Roble 42-14 to win the CIF Northern California Division 4-AA championship a week after winning its first Central Coast Section banner.

So the Knights (12-2) can speak of dream seasons. Theirs will continue in the state finals next Friday in Southern California against Jurupa Hills of Fontana, which beat Torres of Madera 41-14 in the SoCal Regional final.

Casa Roble (12-2) was coming off its first Sac-Joaquin Section championship since 2008, winning D-V honors at Hughes Stadium over previously unbeaten Twelve Bridges of Lincoln in a thriller.

Soquel proved to be too strong on defense and too hard to deal with on offense, particularly running back Justice Grauel-Tebong, who had three touchdown runs, including a 64-yard romp to make it 35-14. Soquel led 21-7 at the half.

Casa Roble quarterback Conner Campbell had a touchdown run and hit UC Davis-bound senior star Cole Owens for a touchdown pass. Soquel in the playoffs has allowed 14, 0, 0 and 14 points and has allowed seven or fewer points seven times this season. Owens bows out as one of the program’s all-time great.

Rams coach Chris Horner, as passionate and caring for his players as they come, said he was proud of his team in a season none of them will forget.

“This season was everything good that coaching young men brings about,” Horner said. “We had a group of boys who built each other up, a group that didn’t point fingers. They take accountability for their actions, admit fault when they are wrong, genuinely like being around one another and are positive members of the Orangevale community.

“They all bought in and this was the best group I’ve been around in my 24 years of teaching. They just happen to be good at football.”

This story was originally published December 2, 2023 at 12:29 AM.

Joe Davidson

The Sacramento Bee

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Joe Davidson has covered sports for The Sacramento Bee since 1989: preps, colleges, Kings and features. He was in early 2024 named the National Sports Media Association Sports Writer of the Year for California and he was in the fall of 2024 inducted into the California High School Football Hall of Fame. He is a 14-time award winner from the California Prep Sports Writer Association. In 2021, he was honored with the CIF Distinguished Service award. He is a member of the California Coaches Association Hall of Fame. Davidson participated in football and track in Oregon.