Del Oro thumps shorthanded Placer in rivalry game, looks to rebound after 2024
The Del Oro Golden Eagles came into the season with a year’s worth of motivation after going 2-8 and losing a historic rivalry game to the Placer Hillmen on their home field in 2024.
“We took it to heart last year,” said Del Oro coach Josh Parry. “We were upset about it.”
Parry’s team carried that emotion an extra week following their Week 2 bye, and on Friday night thumped shorthanded Placer on the road, 49-14, building off their season-opening win over Downey and improving to 2-0, matching their win total from last season.
“I’m so proud of (the players) because they listen, they bought in, they did everything we asked of them,” Parry said.
The Eagles took advantage of four Hillmen turnovers and turned them into touchdowns, getting defensive scores from senior linebacker Victor Suarez and safety Ashton Greenhalgh, while quarterback Nolen Sauve opened the game with a rushing touchdown and later had a passing touchdown to Greenhalgh. Senior running back Brock Sherman added a pair of rushing scores in the second half.
Placer’s star running back Shaun Jones was unavailable to play after rushing for 300 yards and five touchdowns last week in a two-score win against Laguna Creek. A rare highlight for the Hillmen offense came when running back Danny Sanchez-Harlow burst through the right side of Del Oro’s defense for a 65-yard touchdown in the second quarter. It gave Placer a momentary lead at 6-0.
The Golden Eagles went on to score 49 unanswered points before Placer got a touchdown just before time expired with a running clock in the fourth quarter.
The Sacramento Bee had Del Oro ranked at No. 13 coming into Friday, one spot behind Placer No. 12 Placer.
The Eagles are led by tight end and defensive end Luke Galer, who stands 6-foot-6 and 220 pounds. He committed to play at Washington State in June after getting offers from Sacramento State and UNLV, according to ESPN.
Galer didn’t have a big game numbers-wise, but he spoke to his teammates Friday morning reminding them the importance of little details before going on the road to play a rivalry game dating back to the 1960s.
“He’s come so far,” Parry said of Galer, noting he started playing varsity as a sophomore and worked hard to learn the intricacies of tight end. “His leadership is awesome. I’m so proud of him for the way he’s with the younger guys, putting his around them, pushing them, holding them accountable. (He’s) everything you want a leader to be.”
Del Oro missed the Division II playoffs last season after going to the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section semifinals in 2023. Their road ahead through the top-flight Sierra Foothill League won’t be easy, but getting back to the postseason would be sweet for Parry given the frustrations of 2024.
“We’re doing some cool things, some next level things,” Parry said. “... And that’s fun in these systems where I don’t who it’s going to be. Is it a right end? Is it a running back? Is it receivers? Is it the linebackers? Is it the corners? It’s a team. Everything is the team. And (the players) are really buying into that.”
