Oak Ridge downs Granite Bay, improving to 4-1 ahead of showdown at Folsom
Shortly after it was over on Friday night in El Dorado Hills, Casey Taylor addressed his football team, congratulating them for a job well done in another meat grinder of a Sierra Foothill League rumble.
The Oak Ridge Trojans coach then told his troops that next week presents a new challenge, and it starts in the weight room on Monday. That challenge is the formidable foe known as the Folsom Bulldogs.
By defeating Sacramento Bee-ranked No. 4 Granite Bay 21-14, the No. 2 Trojans set themselves up nicely for a super showdown just down the Highway 50 corridor.
It’s a rivalry game between Oak Ridge and Folsom, but as Taylor has stressed before, it’s not much of a rivalry unless the Trojans score a win in the series. It’s been a minute since that has happened — since 2006, to be exact. Folsom has defeated Oak Ridge 23 consecutive times, including the last three times in the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division I finals at Hughes Stadium.
“Our first goal is to win the league championship, but we can’t do that unless we beat Folsom,” Taylor said. “That’s still the bar. We can’t compare ourselves to them until we beat them.”
Oak Ridge used a 14-play drive to account for the final points, and then the defense held strong to hold off the Grizzlies in moving to 4-1 on the season. The loss was to San Diego powerhouse San Marcos.
Tyler Andujar’s 1-yard scoring plunge capped that long drive with 3:55 left to play, the benefit of a stout and experienced offensive line with steady quarterback play mixed in by Nick Johnson.
A 6-foot-4, 195-pound junior, Johnson is also looking forward to facing Folsom. He knows a ton of those Bulldogs, having played with scores of them when he was a football player there. He transferred to Oak Ridge before this academic year, won the starting job and has kept the offense balanced.
Jasen Womack, Oak Ridge’s best player as a two-way star headed to Cal Poly on scholarship, scored the game’s first points, a 1-yard touchdown. Johnson hit Troy Taber for an 11-yard score with nine seconds left in the first half to take a 14-7 Oak Ridge lead.
Granite Bay junior quarterback Dominic Cattolico hooked up with senior Darnell Turner for a 25-yard touchdown to tie it 14-14 with 5:53 to go in the third quarter. Isaiah Ene scored Granite Bay’s other touchdown, a 1-yarder, and he rushed for 72 yards.
Oak Ridge QB is son of former MLB player
So it’s rivalry week now, and Johnson’s glee was evident afterward. A 3.75 GPA student, he has the same sort of composure as his father, Nick Johnson, some 30 years ago.
That’s when the elder Johnson was a baseball star at McClatchy High in Sacramento, and he still rates as one of the region’s all-time greats. He was a third-round pick by the New York Yankees in 1996 and played in the big leagues as a smooth-swinging first baseman or designated hitter from 2001 to 2012. Now he’s a proud pop watching his son do his thing.
Johnson the quarterback raved about his offensive line, his defense, his skill players, his coaches, the school — everything. He is a young man basking in his element.
“I love it,” he said. “I love this school and everyone here.”
As for the Folsom game?
“I’m excited, especially since it’s there,” Johnson said. If we do our job and execute, anything can happen.”
It starts in the weight room
Taylor said every win is cherished in the SFL, the strongest league in the section for years, certainly since Folsom joined the mix before the 2014 season. Folsom has won the SFL nine times in that stretch, losing out of the banner only once. Oak Ridge is eager to close that gap, but it will take a superb fourth quarter to do it.
“In the last two weeks, we’ve had a chance to finish in the fourth quarter against two good teams,” Taylor said. “We’ve got to get better next week.”
Taylor said the weight room has boosted the program, and not just for the big guys in the trenches. This means everyone. Even the skill players look toned and tough.
“That’s where it starts for us,” Taylor said. “We feel that’s the essence of our program, working hard and getting stronger in the weight room, and being gritty.”
This story was originally published September 26, 2025 at 10:17 PM.