A year after heartache, Twelve Bridges savors CIF section title joy in rout of Patterson
Some 20 minutes before taking the field Saturday afternoon, Chris Bean rallied his troops for what he hoped was not for the final time this magical season.
The Twelve Bridges High School football coach reminded his team inside one of the locker rooms at Hughes Stadium that the reason they play this game is for the fun of it, with this bonus: You compete for the love of each other and for the game, including the championship chase. So go out there and back it up, the coach concluded.
Looking every bit the top seed in the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division IV bracket and bucking the norm of program ascent with just its second senior class, the upstart Raging Rhinos of Lincoln rolled 109-year-old Patterson 55-7 on the campus of Sacramento City College.
A year after a 12-0 season came crashing to a halt with a last-second 2-point conversion pass by Casa Roble in the D-V finals on this very turf, Bean and the boys went from their greatest anguish to their greatest conquest and joy. The Sacramento area’s last unbeaten team is now 13-0 and it will find out Sunday afternoon where the next journey leads.
The CIF will release Northern California championship brackets that day, as all section champions across the state advance to a regional final.
That theme of fun and love? It works in a sport big on hitting and knocking the other team backward or onto their backside.
“The reality is this: There’s so much chaos in our society, and there’s so much going on in these kids’ lives, and if we could just bring some joy for a couple of hours on a Friday evening, then you know what? That’s what love’s all about,” Bean said after the game, still spent from a couple hours of gridiron joy. “You’ve got to love this game.”
Newer schools simply do not do this. The norm, at least in the greater Sacramento area over the decades, is for new kids on any block to take their lumps, welts and bruises against established programs.
Twelve Bridges never bought into that line of thinking, a credit to their spirited and demanding coach. Bean was a small-school product from Colfax High School, a one-time quarterback who quickly became one of the region’s top coaches because of his ability to build a team and players and to rally a community.
Ward, Flaherty lead the charge
With massive roster numbers at the freshman, junior varsity and varsity levels, Bean immediately made football a draw on the Placer County campus after injecting similar good vibes at nearby Lincoln High. The youth feeder programs are also rolling, making football the it thing at all levels.
What has made this season all the more remarkable is Twelve Bridges graduated 18 starters from last season. Didn’t matter. The train was already rolling. Backups became starters, and some of them became stars, including backfield mates Braeden Ward and Connor Flaherty. The defense was stout again, a credit to defensive coordinator Grant Fowler, as the Raging Rhinos didn’t have to wildly outscore opponents like in recent seasons. Now they just trample teams.
What transpired was a season to cherish and a group of eager players to appreciate. Bean hugged more people after the game than a mayor seeking reelection. He is both beloved and feared by his players, the fear rooted in disappointing him.
“I can’t even explain what I just witnessed,” the coach said of the demolition job on a battle-tested Patterson team. “That’s a dang good team over there (in Patterson). Our kids eventually said, enough is enough. We’re going to put some demons from last year’s playoffs away for good. I couldn’t be more proud of our program, top to bottom.”
Every champion has star power, and Ward certainly qualifies as a star. The 5-foot-11, 195-pound senior running back came into the season with 241 varsity yards to his credit from 2023. Ward against Patterson rushed for 225 yards on 24 carries and four touchdowns, including 107 yards and three scores in the first half.
For the season, Ward has rumbled, stiff-armed and sprinted his way to 2,376 yards and 36 touchdowns, some of the best numbers in the state.
Ward has benefited from a superb offensive line that includes college prospect Colton Hogge, and a defense that turns teams over in quick order. Twelve Bridges came in averaging 56 points by stretching and buckling defense, and the Raging Rhinos had 55 points by the end of the third before a running clock and the reserves took over. Dylan Amos had two interceptions for Twelve Bridges as an example of a young player seizing his opportunities. Amos was key player on the program’s 10-win junior varsity team this season before his varsity call-up.
Flaherty also filled in for some big vacated cleats at quarterback. He replaced the graduated Whit Kruse, who tossed 23 touchdowns in 2023, and has kept the Rhinos rolling, using his feet and his strong right arm. Flaherty completed 10 of 12 passes for 147 yards and three touchdown passes against Patterson, one scoring strike going to Matthew Marquez, another to Dylan Amos and the final one to Will Gant, a 42-yard beauty for a 55-7 lead with 1:50 left to play in the third quarter.
Flaherty has passed for 2,409 yards and 24 touchdowns. He has dedicated his football career to his stepfather, Eric Morales, who died at 38 of a heart attack during a Lincoln Junior Zebras football practice in 2017. Flaherty credited Morales for his passion for football, and he credited football for giving him teammates and memories to last a lifetime. He wears Morales’ initials on his game towel and wears a T-shirt under his uniform bearing a photo of him and Morales.
“I’m thinking about him,” Flaherty said.
He added about his team: “The love we have for each other has carried us. We bond together and win together.”
Ward agreed. Coach Bean credited players for this record-setting season, and the players immediately mentioned their coaches.
“We love what we do, this sport and each other,” Ward said. “Coach Bean is the best coach in the area. He trusts us, believes in us.”
This story was originally published November 29, 2024 at 6:26 PM.