Top-ranked Folsom adds a big-time transfer, then rolls to 22nd straight win over Oak Ridge
He goes by “Sugar Bear,” and it’s for all the little things that make Josiah Sharma such a popular teenager.
He’s engaging and polite, a good spirit and solid student outside of shoulder pads and a helmet. He is a force in football garb otherwise. And there’s nothing little about this guy. In an era of high school student-athletes transferring for myriad reasons, Sharma was the biggest lineman mover and shaker, going from powerhouse Inderkum to the Folsom Bulldogs, a program that is the very definition of powerhouse.
On Friday night after a 30-day sit out per CIF transfer rules, Sharma made his Bulldogs debut one to remember as a field-tilting, shadow-casting 6-foot-5, 325-pound two-way lineman. His bulk and skills add to a program heavy on all of those things.
Behind star quarterback Ryder Lyons’ five touchdown passes — three to Jameson Powell — and a suffocating defense, top-ranked Folsom beat No. 4 Oak Ridge 35-7 in a Sierra Foothill League contest in El Dorado Hills to move to 5-1 on the season in making it 22 consecutive games the Bulldogs have beaten their chief rival Trojans, dating back to 2006. It was 14-7 at the half.
Sharma played the part and looked the part of 4-star prospect who has given a verbal pledge to play on scholarship for the Texas Longhorns. He overpowered Oak Ridge players in the trenches.
“He’s so happy, so positive, so much high energy, a really nice kid,” Folsom coach Paul Doherty said of his large newcomer. “I don’t think this section has seen a player like him in a long time.”
But why is he a Bulldog when he had a pretty good thing going with the Tigers of Inderkum, who pushed Folsom to the brink in a CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division I semifinal last season?
For a new challenge, to surround himself with like-minded players, he said. Transferring isn’t against the rules, if done correctly, certainly, but it leaves coaches in the region bitter in this sport. The thinking is that Folsom is formidable enough, a great deal of its success rooted in youth programs and freshmen and junior varsity teams. Transfers have put the program at a different level the last 10 or so seasons.
Sharma had scholarship offers while at Inderkum. He initially gave a verbal commitment to the Washington Huskies, then decommitted when the coaches left to coach at Alabama.
“He had eight scholarship offers when he was at Inderkum but Texas had no idea who he was until he got here in January,” Doherty said. “Does he still get the Texas offer if he didn’t come to Folsom? Maybe. We develop players, we coach them, and kids come to Folsom because they want to play with the best.”
Doherty feels and hears the vibes, including unfounded claims such as: Folsom recruits and poaches players from other programs; Folsom stockpiles players into houses and apartments; the team lies on paperwork and sell their souls to play high school football.
Doherty disputes all of this speculation. As do Folsom administrators, including vice principal Eric Eklund, who said he may be the only administrator in the section who will knock on the door of transfers to see if they live there to match their paperwork. The CIF hammers programs hard, including sanctions and playoff bans, if they are in violation of undue influence of luring players, and if student-athletes are misleading on paperwork regarding place of residence.
Oak Ridge fans throughout the first half Friday marveled at the size of Sharma, and some said plenty loud enough: “Folsom cheats!” (Then again, Folsom fans regularly like to insist during games that the referees and CIF are out to get their team.)
Folsom has other transfers still waiting to be cleared. It sometimes takes weeks or months of due diligence from the governing body CIF to make sure all the boxes check off.
Folsom played against former teammate
Folsom played against a fired-up Oak Ridge team that was 2-0 in the SFL coming in and was led by a familiar face in senior quarterback Phoenix Hester. He transferred from Folsom for the same reasons others transfer from Point A to Point B: something different, or a chance to play.
Hester wasn’t going to see much quarterback action at Folsom with Lyons producing one of the region’s all-time great careers.
“There are six starting quarterbacks in the area who were Folsom players,” said Doherty, the Folsom coach. “Aidan Lopez is at Casa Roble, and I’m happy for him. Phoenix Hester is at Oak Ridge, and I’m happy for him. Dallas Munn is at Destiny Christian, and I’m happy for him. Luke Alexander is at Grant, and I’m happy for him. Nick Harris is at Granite Bay, a former Folsom Junior Bulldog, and I’m happy for him.”
The coach added: “I never knock anyone for leaving. I love those kids. It is what it is.”
Lyons accounted for five scores for the third consecutive game against Oak Ridge.
This contest was especially sloppy in the first half, a flag fest, including five personal fouls or unsportsmanlike penalties. Rivalry tension? Big time, and then some.
‘Look out for the vultures’
Oak Ridge coach Casey Taylor said before the game that his team “isn’t afraid of Folsom or anyone.” He wanted to make it a one-score game entering the fourth quarter, when anything could happen. Folsom was too good defensively, and despite sacking him three times, the Trojans could not contain Lyons, who passed for 246 yards.
Lyons lives in El Dorado Hills and has been a Folsom student since the start of his freshman year. He is not a transfer.
In an effort to boost his alma mater, a fine program for decades, Taylor has taken on the unusual task of serving as head coach for the Trojans’ freshman, JV and varsity team. The aim is two-fold: to supervise the program from top to bottom, and to remind them that if the going is good in El Dorado Hills, why leave?
“We’re trying to keep players here at Oak Ridge, so they don’t leave, because we have a great program here, and we’re working hard to close the gap on Folsom,” he said. “And we have to look out for the vultures.”
This story was originally published October 4, 2024 at 10:49 PM.