Ice cream for the winner: Casa Roble outlasts Placer in football season opener
The fun in Orangevale started some 24 hours earlier at the Dairy Queen.
Students, football players, coaches, parents and fans packed the popular ice cream spot located not too far from campus to kick off their high school football season of promise, everyone decked in Casa Roble Rams colors, and then the momentum carried well into the night on Friday.
Behind senior quarterback star Aidan Lopez in a rivalry game as good as advertised, The Sacramento Bee-ranked No. 12 Rams outlasted No. 11 Placer 46-30 in an opener on a hot night, leading to an 8:15 p.m. kickoff.
It ended at 11:25 p.m. with delays from touchdowns, player cramps, timeouts and an officiating crew that at times couldn’t agree on what down it was, or if they would wave off a flag or not.
At this point of the season, everyone is a work in progress, and the coaches for both sides like their teams and their chance to compete for a league championship and for CIF Sac-Joaquin Section banners.
Lopez passed for 281 yards and two touchdowns, including a 73-yard strike to Jared Alexander for a 15-0 lead, and he had a 65-yard pass play to the Placer 1 that set up the final Casa Roble points as the home team won this opener for the seventh consecutive season.
At Casa Roble and Placer, these aren’t just football games. These are events, a happening, a social epicenter in town, the thing to do on campus, be it in Auburn for the storied Hillmen or in Orangevale. The backdrop in either location features cheerleaders, a band and packed stands.
“There’s just a small-town feel,” Casa Roble coach Chris Horner said. “Placer is in Auburn, tough kids, and we have the same type of feel here. It’s not reality. It’s just so cool.”
Horner is a San Juan Unified School District product to the core, a one-time lineman starter for the San Juan Spartans in the early 1990s who is now in his 25th season coaching at Casa Roble, the last nine as head coach. His program’s crowning moment this generation was winning a CIF section Division V championship in the final seconds over an unbeaten Twelve Bridges of Lincoln team in 2023 at famed Hughes Stadium.
“We’re on the outskirts, over here in the far east end of the San Juan Unified, and nobody bothers us,” Horner said. “We’re all here by ourselves with Dairy Queen right there. In Auburn? Same thing. We have Dairy Queen and they have the Taco Tree, and it’s awesome.”
Said Placer coach Joey Montoya, “It’s always a great game with Casa, a great environment, and fun.”
Lopez has settled in nicely as a team leader after learning his new teammates last season as a transfer from Folsom High. He was voted a team captain by his teammates this season and looked like a young man in his element.
Lopez can throw with touch, with velocity, and he burns to compete and lead.
“Lopez makes us all look really freaking good,” Horner said. “He’s very talented, throws a great ball. He’s a lot smarter than last season, knowing he has to protect the ball. He’s just that guy now. We all know how great Ryder Lyons is (as the 5-star quarterback star for Folsom), but Aidan Lopez is the second best quarterback around.”
Every title contender has to have some unsung grinders to make it all work, and one of them for Casa Roble is Kasey Hilderbrand.
The senior linebacker and backup quarterback makes plays, including scoring on a 3-yard run to push Casa Roble ahead 22-6, and he had a 2-yard touchdown pass to Felix Rodriguez for a 30-16 lead with 9:10 left in the third quarter.
Jaylan Barcenas is also a name to watch for this season for the Rams. The senior took off for a 61-yard touchdown romp for a 38-23 lead with 5:30 to go in the third. He is the speed element for the Rams, and he had 115 yards on 12 touches. In this offense, everyone gets involved.
Shaun Jones powered and sprinted for scoring runs of 25 and 3 yards for Placer. He is a third-year varsity starter.
Casa Roble plays at Ponderosa in Shingle Springs on Aug. 29 and Placer hosts Laguna Creek of Elk Grove on the same night.
This story was originally published August 23, 2025 at 12:25 AM.