Oak Ridge’s rigorous schedule pays off as Trojans roll powerhouse St. Mary’s

When Casey Taylor was a young varsity head coach at Del Oro High School in Loomis, his nonleague schedules were not filled with home games against patsies. But he soon learned that once the league schedule started, his Golden Eagles teams might not have been as prepared as he wanted.

Now coaching his alma mater in El Dorado Hills, the Oak Ridge leader isn’t shy about taking on the state’s best. Heck, some of the state’s best are in the Trojans’ league.

Playing in the Sierra Foothill League against perennial powers in Folsom, Granite Bay, Del Oro and Rocklin should give a team a strength-of-schedule bump in the Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs seedings — if you can emerge from the SFL gauntlet to even qualify for the postseason.

“When I first got hired at Del Oro, we’d play Granite Bay every year, and they were so good, so fast, we just couldn’t simulate them in our (nonleague) schedule,” Taylor said. “But we started scheduling tougher teams in the preseason, and, soon, we were in the section finals and then the state finals. We took it to another level.”

So, Taylor scheduled one of the best programs in the southern part of the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section in the St. Mary’s Rams of Stockton. Taylor is now 5-0 against the Rams as his Sacramento Bee section-ranked No. 5 Trojans defeated the No. 4 Rams 56-35 on Friday night in El Dorado Hills. It was the most points the Rams (3-1) have given up since losing 63-7 to Mission Viejo in 2019.

The Trojans’ junior duo of quarterback Nick Johnson, a transfer from Folsom High, and receiver Isaac Pierce hooked up for scoring throws of 24, 65, 50 and 21 yards. Pierce later scored on a sweep from 5 yards out. Johnson had a nifty 18-yard rushing score in the second quarter.

“We run routes after practice and meet here at school in the weekends to run routes to get our timing right,” Pierce said. “Nick is my boy. We’re always hanging out. We’ve become best friends, always kicking it, and we’ve developed a connection.”

Pierce said the Rams’ safeties were working about 10 yards off the ball, and he knew he could get by them. His first two TD catches were over the middle on post plays.

Rams quarterback Jaden Galvan threw for 164 yards and had scoring tosses of 19 and 80 yards — all in the first quarter. He also threw two interceptions in the half, one of which was returned 35 yards for a score by Keith Erickson late in the second quarter, after the Rams had recovered their second onside kick.

“To get that interception for a touchdown was huge just before the half because they were getting the ball back to start the second half, so that was a big swing,” Taylor said. “They scored on us, but they took a lot of time off the clock. I’m really proud of the effort. That was a Top 25 team in the state averaging 50 points a game.”

It’s the 1988 Oak Ridge graduate’s 214th career victory. Taylor had never scheduled the Rams as the Trojans’ leader until this year, and a week after the Trojans had a bye.

Taylor and Del Oro beat the Rams in the 2009 and 2012 section finals. The last time the Trojans and the Rams met was in 2017, with the Rams winning 38-31 in the section Division I semifinals. Taylor coached Del Oro to six section titles and in four CIF State finals, winning it in 2015.

“If you play good teams early, by the time you get to league you should be ready,” Taylor said. “When you have a (Folsom High quarterback) Ryder Lyons in your league, it’s always good to see another 6-foot-5, 225 quarterback like we did two weeks ago in San Diego.”

In that game, Mission Hills quarterback Troy Huhn threw a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns to seal the win. Huhn is “only” 6-4, 220.

“Long road trips are good for us, too… can we travel?” said Taylor of the team bonding experience, but also playing on the road against quality opponents, even some the Trojans might see if they get through Northern California’s best and go to the school’s first state final game.

Oak Ridge last won a section title in 2019 and has lost to Folsom in the last three section Division I finals.

Taylor said the parents have bought into his tough scheduling. They know that even a losing record entering SFL play doesn’t mean much as long as the Trojans get closer to beating Folsom in either league play or the playoffs.

The Trojans enter SFL play next Friday at Del Oro.

“It’s not about the records,” Taylor said. “I’ve had teams that finished 6-4 and were tough and really good, and teams that went 13-1 and didn’t do much in the playoffs.”