No. 3 Rocklin’s thunder and lightning backfield leads the charge against No. 5 Granite Bay
Derek Keeley is the hard-charging runner, a brute in cleats who runs north and south and plays with the same sort of ferocity on defense as a linebacker.
His Rocklin High School backfield mate, Rafi Merino, is the flash and dash to this dynamic duo, a burst up the middle with the speed to break big gains. The seniors are quick to the point of attack and they are just as quick to point out after games that their success is rooted in their big and stout linemen friends in the trenches.
This combination has The Bee No. 3-ranked Thunder humming along as the season hits the final stretch of the regular season.
Rocklin pitched a second-half shutout to defeat No. 5 and visiting Granite Bay, 35-21, on Friday night in a Sierra Foothill League contest. Keeley rushed and rumbled for 142 yards and a touchdown and Merino ran for three scores and had 117 yards for the game. The defense recorded four sacks, two by two-way lineman star Henry Hatada.
Ton of bricks and a missile
A year ago in this rivalry, Rocklin won in triple overtime. It was 21-21 at one point in the second quarter in this one before the Thunder’s line play and defense won the night.
As for the Thunder rushing attack, about the only time Keeley and Merino were in slow motion was when they worked their way with a throng of teammates into the stands after the game. The mission was to express gratitude to their student rooting section, the band and fans and family members who filled the bleachers.
“Both of our runners give us a lot,” a pleased Rocklin coach Jason Adams said afterward. “Keeley hits you like a ton of bricks, and Merino is quick and hits the hole like a missile.”
Football is a wide-open game at all levels, big on the pass and spread formations, but it’s still rooted in the fundamentals of blocking and running and defense and tackling. Rocklin used those elements to storm to a CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division II championship last season, and to a man, that’s the goal this campaign.
Rocklin has a steady quarterback in Reeve Slone, a junior who earned Bee All-Metro honors last season, making for a balanced attack. Slone has a star receiver in Mikey Cunningham, perhaps the team’s fastest player who doubles as play-making cornerback.
Slone was nursing a tender ankle Friday, but he was able to hand off and get out of the way as Keeley and Merino went to work behind UCLA-bound tackle Garrison Blank, a 6-foot-7, 300-pounder, Hatada, Jack Grocock, Mateo Nunez, Dwight Nguyen and tight ends Chase Baker and Keane Frank.
“We like to run the ball and we do it well, and we all block our (butts) off,” said Cunningham, who admired his bloody elbow, a reminder that even the receivers get into blocking.
Said Merino: “Keeley works the defense over as a hard runner, physical, and I try and make people miss in making explosive plays. We both work hard and we work well together.”
‘We’re all locked in’
Hatada looks the part of lineman at 6-2 and 245 pounds and soaked in sweat, and he sports a mustache that he has been working on for a year. Hatada is a difference maker in the trenches.
“We show up every day ready to work,” Hatada said, sounding like a leader. “We know we have to work for our success. We’re all locked in.”
Merino scored on runs of 2, 15 and 2 yards for a 21-14 Rocklin lead. Keeley’s 19-yard score made it 35-21 in the fourth quarter. Slone had a 29-yard touchdown to Frank, one of the team’s tight ends, to put Rocklin ahead for good at 29-21 with 29.4 seconds left in the first half.
Granite Bay (6-2) was led by its 1-2-3 punch of Isaiah Ene, Nick Harris and Joseph Cattolico, son of Grizzlies head coach Joe Cattolico, whose father, Butch Cattolico, is on the coaching staff.
Harris passed for 202 yards, Ene rushed for 83 yards, including a 27-yard score to tie it 7-7, and Joseph Cattolico had 95 yards receiving.
Granite Bay’s losses are to Bee top 5 teams Oak Ridge and Rocklin. Rocklin (7-1) has a loss at top-ranked Folsom in SFL play but the Thunder may secure the No. 1 seed in Division II if they win the remainder of their SFL games against Del Oro and Oak Ridge.
Other teams looking to secure high seeds in Division II include St. Mary’s of Stockton, the program Rocklin defeated in last season’s section final at Hughes Stadium, and Bee No. 2 Grant, the program that beat Rocklin in a Northern California championship.
“We’re going to try and play ourselves into a good seeding, hopefully the No. 1 seed,” Adams said.
Adams said players such as Keeley epitomize the grit and determination of the Thunder, a championship program in Placer County for more than 20 years. Keeley made tackles on defense and had an interception.
“He’s so fun to coach and to be around,” Adams said. “He’s all ears and eyes in the film room. He keeps it simple when he runs, following his blockers, trusting the process, and he just so hard-nosed. We have a lot of guys like that.”
This story was originally published October 19, 2024 at 12:03 AM.