Here are The Bee’s Player of Year and Coach of Year front-runners entering football playoffs
The Sacramento-area high school football season for decades finished after the regular season, 10 games of work in the books, and then everyone hurried off to the postseason banquet and winter sports.
When the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs began in 1972, the seasons expanded by three or four weeks for those in pursuit of championship blue banners. In the old days, The Sacramento Bee produced All-Metro honors for the regular season based on 10 games of work. Since the 1990s, we have produced our All-Metro teams after the postseason, when the games matter the most, particularly the section finals. The state finals were introduced in 2006.
In the spirit of a regular-season well done, here are our leading contenders for Players of the Year and Coach of the Year, all of it subject to change with postseason results. The Bee’s Player of the Year honors at the end of the season will include an overall MVP and honors for achievers at the large-school, medium-school and small-school levels.
Statistics are flashy and cool, certainly, but we value team success over yards, touchdowns and tackles made.
Player of the Year
Ryder Lyons, QB, Folsom: The Bee’s Player of the Year in 2023 as a sophomore, the 5-star wiz has produced another stellar season for The Bee’s top-ranked team, leading with his arm, legs, leadership and drive. Folsom seeks a section championship four-peat and a CIF state repeat. Lyons has passed for five touchdowns in each of his last five games without breaking much of a sweat.
Braeden Ward, RB, Twelve Bridges: A role player who showed a lot of promise last season for a 12-1 team, Ward has stormed onto the scene as a hard-charging power runner with burst. He’s been paramount in his team’s 10-0 regular season, rumbling for 1,661 yards and 26 touchdowns with more sure to come.
Kaleb Edwards, TE, Oak Ridge: The Alabama Crimson Tide-bound senior looks the part of player and prospect at 6-foot-7 and 245 pounds, and he has been a load catching the ball and as an effective pass rusher for the No. 2-seeded team in the Division I playoff bracket. Oak Ridge seeks its third successive trip to the section finals.
Isaiah Ene, RB/DB, Granite Bay: A three-year varsity grinder with a year to go, Ene punishes teams with his hard running (he has 17 touchdowns) and his penchant for making plays on defense in the secondary for another playoff team.
Derek Keeley, RB/LB, Rocklin: A force at running back and at linebacker, Keeley has done his part, competing with a fullback’s fury and defensive-minded mantra. The Thunder seek a section title repeat, and he’ll be a key reason if they do. He has two teammates in receiver/defensive back Mikey Cunningham and running back Rafi Merino who are in this argument.
Luke Alexander, QB, Grant: A second-year starter seeking a section championship three-peat for his storied program and a repeat trip to a CIF final, Alexander is worthy if he can achieve those goals. He craves to compete.
Ricky Cole, QB, Inderkum: In his two-year varsity career for the Tigers of Natomas, Cole has accounted for a remarkable 100 touchdowns. What he really wants is a trip to the section finals, which would likely mean a victory over Folsom. He’s capable.
Baylor Kelley, RB, Placer: The super senior is a speed burner, having rushed for 16 scores and catching three more, and he has a bruising running back teammate in Shaun Jones, whose 13 rushing scores and superb blocking warrant notice. The Hillmen will need both backs to reach the finals of a loaded D-IV bracket.
Jaden Jackson, QB, West Park: A dual-threat playmaker for the rising fast Panthers of Roseville, JJ has to keep his train rolling in D-III with timing and effort. A D-III finals trip is there for the taking.
Dallas Munn, QB, Malakai Taione-Tauataina, RB, Destiny Christian: We’re listing this as a 1-2 combo as Munn the passer who can run with fury inside the 10, and Taione-Tauataina the swift runner, make for a formidable 1-2 punch for a team capable of winning the D-III bracket.
Mateo Mojica, RB/LB, Bradshaw Christian: The grinding senior is a four-year varsity player, and quite possibly the best player in the 20-year history of this small-school powerhouse program. Chew on these varsity career totals: 4,407 yards rushing and 43 TDs to go with 277 career tackles. BC is 10-0, top-seeded in D-VI and capable of a CIF state crown.
Aidan Lopez, QB, Casa Roble: Sacramento’s leading passer this season with 2,302 yards and 27 touchdowns, the sophomore can make noise in the D-V bracket with more inspired efforts and laser throws, including getting the ball to the versatile Connor Campbell, who quarterbacked the Rams to the D-V title last season.
Mason Susnara, QB, Roseville: The storied Tigers remain a rock of stability, and Mr. Mason is a big reason why. A trip to the D-IV finals is ripe for the taking.
Here’s our Bee voting poll to add to the fun: a “People’s Choice” winner. Dig in, share the word and vote as often as you’d like.
Defensive Player of the Year
Jeremiah Tuiilelia, DE, Grant: He won this honor a year ago as a junior when Grant repeated as a section champion and nearly repeated as a CIF state champion, and he’s been a load for opponents to deal with this season.
Theo Greule, DL, Folsom: With 50 varsity starts in the trenches, the grueling Greule has been a terror in the trenches for years, a man in pursuit of ball carriers whose middle name just as well be “Relentless.”
Josiah Campbell, LB, Christian Brothers: When you lead the state in tackles, you’re on your game, and Campbell has been superb for a team that seeks another trip to a section final. Great instincts and motor.
Troy Bowens, LB, Sutter: This is a small-school program rooted in defense for decades, and Bowens continues the legacy. He has 13.5 sacks for a 9-1 team that is seeded second in the D-V bracket.
Konley Cova, LB, Wheatland: A junior for the upstart small-school Pirates, Cova gets every ounce out of his 185-pound frame. He is averaging 23 tackles of late, and he has 13 sacks for a 9-1 team ready to storm the D-VI field.
Elijah Folau, LB, Monterey Trail: A disruptive force on defense who forces fumbles, recovers them and makes stops is the freshly minted Delta League Player of the Year.
Others of note and who can move the needle with a section finals appearance:
▪ D’Adrien Sanders, RB, Monterey Trail: The Mustangs’ latest speed back is capable of a 200-yard game any night, and he will have to hit overdrive in the D-I field.
▪ David Hale, QB, Elk Grove: A three-year starter and the lead guy in the team’s rushing attack, Hale is all about commitment and drive. Getting to the D-II finals will be on his shoulders, and he cannot wait.
▪ Joseph Brown, RB, Liberty Ranch: The area’s second-leading rusher with 1,580 yards and 20 TDs, Brown will be the reason the Hawks of Galt advance in the D-VI bracket.
▪ Beau Ogles, QB, Oakmont: A year after the Vikings of Roseville limped home with an 0-10 season, here they are at 7-3 and ready to rock the D-V bracket, with Ogles the key cog as a fearless quarterback leader who makes all the throws.
▪ Armon Thorntona, Laguna Creek: A 1,000-yard rusher in just six games with 21 TDs, the AT Express will be the primary reason the Cardinals pull seeding upsets in D-I.
Coach of the Year
Chris Bean, Twelve Bridges: A year after taking a new school from Placer County with its first senior class to the section D-V finals, Bean replaced 18 graduated starters and has an even better team, one that is 10-0 and the top seed in the D-IV bracket. A remarkable job in leadership.
Andy Fatten, Wheatland: Two years removed from an 0-10 season and winners of just three games a year ago, the fired-up Pirates are 9-1 and a serious threat in the D-VI playoff scramble. Fatten has fattened up the Wheatland charge.
Jake Messina, Oakmont: After a winless campaign that pained the proud coach to the core, the Vikings roared back with 21 three-year veterans to play for the Pioneer Valley League championship in a tremendous bounce-back season. That’s coaching impact.
Aaron Garcia/Antuan Simmons, Destiny Christian Academy: Garcia coaches the offense, Simmons the defense, and together, they turned a chaotic two-win team last season when it went by Capital Christian into an 8-2 outfit that looms as a serious D-III section championship contender.
Casey Taylor, Oak Ridge: If the longtime regional coach with more than 200 victories, 149 of those at Del Oro, can topple Folsom in the D-I finals, he will have earned this nod. The Trojans replaced an army of linemen, have battled injuries and finished the regular-season ranked second by The Bee.
Larry Morla, Christian Brothers: His team decimated by injuries, including at quarterback, Morla kept the Falcons united, winning a share of the Capital Valley Conference that included a gritty effort over Inderkum. That the Falcons did not buckle is testament to the coach.
Carl Reed/Syd Thompson, Grant: The Grant graduates earned this honor following the 2022 season in which the storied Pacers of Del Paso Heights won a section, NorCal and state championship a year after going 1-8. This season, a section three-peat with a cast of new skill players that grew after a grueling nonleague schedule is proof of top-tier leadership.
Paul Doherty, Folsom: We can hear the booing, cursing and worse from Doherty detractors, but a section four-peat and a CIF state repeat means he’s doing some great work. Never mind the transfer talk, someone has to captain the ship.
This story was originally published November 6, 2024 at 6:00 AM.