Sacramento High outlasts Roseville in offensive shootout, advancing to section semifinals

There was a feeling along the home team’s sideline that Friday night’s playoff game would be decided by whoever possessed the ball last.

In a shootout of a Sac-Joaquin Section Division IV quarterfinal between No. 3 seed Roseville and No. 6 Sacramento, the host Tigers had the ball, down 7 with 1:14 to go. Roseville had just stopped Sac High from scoring for the first time all night on the previous defensive possession.

But although they did not possess the ball last, it was the Dragons of Oak Park who made the last stand.

Senior defensive lineman Harold Ausbie put just enough pressure on Roseville quarterback Mason Susnara to force an incompletion as the clock struck zero, and a purple Sac High flag waved victorious after a 45-38 win.

“It was a battle out there, a real war,” said Sacramento coach Kimbbie Drayton. “Our kids fought through the whole game, kept their heads up, fought through adversity and came through with the victory. That’s the biggest thing, to deal with adversity. The kids did a great job with that today.”

The Dragons scored on each of their first seven drives to build up a 45-30 lead midway through the fourth quarter behind the beyond-his-years poise of sophomore quarterback Le’Ron James-Radcliffe. The young Sac High QB threw for 213 yards and three touchdowns, plus ran for two more.

“He was lights out today, probably the best I’ve ever seen him play in my life, and I’ve been coaching him since Pop Warner,” Drayton said of his quarterback. “He came out on fire today, probably the best percentage he’s had all year. He played like a real Division I guy.”

James-Radcliffe’s freshman cousin wasn’t bad, either. Cordell Radcliffe paced each Sac High drive with barreling runs that Roseville could not solve. Cordell Radcliffe ran for 117 yards and two touchdowns for the Dragons, who advance to the D-IV semis to face second-seeded Patterson next week.

“Man, we’ve been putting in too much work just to get to this point and lose,” said junior defensive back Damarie Taylor. “We’ve got to keep going.”

It was a back-and-forth first half with Roseville striking first on a 25-yard TD pass from Susnara to Grahm Dahle for a 7-0 Tiger lead. But Sac High’s Taylor returned the ensuing kickoff 76 yards for a touchdown to knot the score at seven.

The Dragons forced a Roseville punt and drove 80 yards for another Taylor score, this time on a 51-yard pass from James-Radcliffe to give Sacramento a 13-7 lead by the end of the first quarter.

Colton Wolfe took a direct snap for a 1-yard touchdown and a 2-point conversion to give Roseville back the lead at 15-13 early in the second. The Dragons answered with a 3-yard QB run from James-Radcliffe to go back in front, 20-15.

Susnara hit Kaiden Pedone for a 15-yard touchdown with 1:18 to play in the half to put Roseville back in front, 22-20. But the Dragons responded with 27 seconds left as James-Radcliffe hit Cordell Radcliffe for a 14-yard strike and a 26-22 Sac High lead at the break.

Sac High built upon its lead to open the third as James-Radcliffe hit Jemell Eddings for a 21-yard score. But Wolfe took in another direct snap for a Roseville score that brought the score to within three at 33-30, Sacramento.

James-Radcliffe ran in his second score of the night from 6 yards out to extend Sacramento’s lead to 39-30 near the end of the third quarter, and Cordell Radcliffe cushioned it even further with a 6-yard score of his own to make it 45-30 with 7:58 to play in the fourth.

Roseville brought it back to a one-score game after D’Marcis Gresham ran in a 3-yard score with 4:48 to play, but Sacramento held strong on the Tigers’ final possession to claim the victory.

The Dragons have steadily improved each year under head coach Kimbbie Drayton, going 2-8 in 2022, 5-7 in 2023 and now 9-3 and counting in 2024. They’re in their first section semifinal since 2014.

“We’re just trying to get back to those days of having winning football,” Drayton said. “The kids are locked in, focused… We got the athletes. We got the coaching staff. It’s just time to keep building a great program.”

Roseville (7-4) had at least one playoff win in each of the previous four postseasons. The Tigers earned their first bye week to start the playoffs since the Sac-Joaquin Section reduced the number of playoff teams in each bracket from 16 to 12 six years ago.

Nick Pecoraro is a sports journalist and host of “Premier Preps with Nick Pecoraro,” a weekly prep show available on YouTube that recaps games and teams in the Sacramento area each week. Find it at youtube.com/@PremierPreps.

This story was originally published November 15, 2024 at 11:02 PM.