Rio Americano rolls McClatchy to give its coach his first win, Lions long for past glory

Football programs from top-achieving academic Sacramento-area schools met on Friday night at Hughes Stadium in a game that was decided in a shutout.

The Rio Americano High School Raiders defeated the C.K McClatchy High School Lions 46-0 in a non-league contest on the campus of Sacramento City College.

The work continues for both teams.

The Raiders won their first game after suffering opening losses to Bee-ranked Granite Bay, 34-10, and last week to Jesuit, 56-7. Longtime Rio assistant Bob Ghazanfari earned his first head-coaching victory and said his team can be better than last season’s 9-3 outfit, which was the program’s best showing in three decades.

“It feels great,” he said. “I told you that was my goal, to get that first ‘W’ as head coach, and I got it and I’m really proud of our staff. We got really good coaches, great players, good kids to buy in, smart kids. But, you know, we get their football IQ up, we’re going to pick up some more wins here and there.”

The Raiders have 10 starters returning from last season, five each on offense and defense, and they aim to show that 2023 was no fluke.

“If you look at the schedule, we have Granite Bay and Jesuit, two really good teams, very physical teams,”Ghazanari said. “I believe that set us up for our future success playing hard-nosed, physical teams coming out of the (Sierra Foothill League). “We got to bounce back. We got to get that W. Win the rep, win the series, win the play, and hopefully good things will happen from there.”

Backup QB steps up

Backup quarterback, junior Arnez Campbell, filled in for injured Ryder Trantham and played well. Ghazanfari said he was really proud of the way Campbell stepped up in his first game.

“I wasn’t eligible to play the last two games, so I just came out here fired up,” he said. “Ryder you went down, so I was just not trying to let my team down.”

Campbell did the opposite of letting them down. He lifted them up. He made the right reads, extended plays with his feet and kept his teammates jumping for excitement throughout the game.

He controlled the tempo of the game, throwing for three touchdowns and adding two more scores on the ground.

“I’m proud of myself, proud of my team, proud of everyone who helped me get to where I’m at right now,” Campbell said. “I’m thankful for what my mom has done for me, thankful for God, what he has done for me.”

He hopes to continue the momentum through the rest of the season.

‘We’re trying to be consistent’

Ghazanari will enjoy the win but he’s focused on continued improvement on a weekly basis with the goal of another playoff run.

“We’re always learning in this game, growing as coaches, players, administration, all of us are trying to grow and get better as a football organization,” Ghazanari said. “Rio Americano traditionally (goes) up and down, but we’re trying to be consistent, produce, perform, and it’s got to show on the field.”

The Raiders have a bye week next week before their first Capital Valley Conference game against Vista del Lago on Sept. 20.

McClatchy measuring small victories

Meanwhile, the Lions of the Sacramento City Unified School District are eager for their first victory after going 1-9 last season. They have lost their last nine games, dating back to last season.

McClatchy is led by first-year head coach Tracy Mitchell, an alum of the school. He took the job because he wanted to build a winning program, like the one he enjoyed as a player in 1989-90.

“We were one of the last teams to go undefeated in the Metro (League),” Mitchell said. “I’ve been back here coaching at McClatchy High School since 2013 and so I’ve had my blueprint, my finger (stamped) on the program, just not as head coach (until now).”

Mitchell saw the pain on his players’ faces after losses and committed to turning the program around, to bring the football identity back to a school that tasted football success shortly after it opened in 1937 and right on through the mid-1990s before the decline hit.

“It’s hard to break,” Mitchell said. “Once a team gets on us, they get down on themselves and I’m trying to break that mentality. “We have a great group of guys here. They just have to believe in themselves and know that football is a game of inches. What happens to you in one quarter or one half doesn’t mean that it’s going to be like that for the whole game.”

Rob Feickert is in his second stint as the athletic director at McClatchy, his first stint starting in 2004. Not a stranger to the campus, Feickert was the varsity football head coach from 1997 to 2002.

The plan is to get football back on track and to keep playing at Hughes Stadium. From 2005 to 2008, the Lions played on Saturday afternoons at their campus but ultimately decided that the Sacramento City College campus was better suited for the task.

“Our community always wanted to play on Friday nights, just like every other high school in the region,” Feickert said. “There’s a cost of playing here but this, to us, is home because of our logistics of not having a stadium, not even having lights.”

Hughes Stadium, Feickert said, is near and dear to the Lion pride. The homecoming parade goes all the way through Land Park and ends near Freeport Boulevard in front of Hughes Stadium.

“This is our neighborhood, we consider this home,” Feickert said.

The Lions next game is away from Hughes Stadium. They face decades-long rival Kennedy in the third annual Big Cat Classic on Sept. 20 in Greenhaven.

This story was originally published September 6, 2024 at 11:37 PM.