Bee’s Best: Breaking down the Sacramento-area’s Top 25 prep football teams

The streak will end one of these years. It has to.

The Folsom Bulldogs have devoured their rivals from El Dorado Hills in football scraps since 2006, peeling off 23 consecutive victories over the Oak Ridge Trojans. The meetings have occurred in league contests and in the playoffs, including the last three CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division I championships. Some games have gone down to the wire. Some were not as close, but almost all of the encounters have been fiercely fought.

Folsom has won four consecutive D-I section banners. Oak Ridge took D-I honors in 2019, topping Monterey Trail in the rain at Hughes Stadium, a week after the Mustangs stunned Folsom in a semifinal.

The teams meet again this week with The Sacramento Bee top-ranked Bulldogs hosting the No. 2 Trojans in the third 1 vs. 2 showdown of the season. Folsom won the other 1 vs. 2 meetings, racing past Grant in a season opener 51-13 and muscling past Rocklin 34-21 on Sept. 19 in an Sierra Foothill League contest.

Team of the Week

The Jesuit Marauders were down a busload of starters in facing Rocklin at home, including three offensive linemen and their fastest running back. In a sport where no one weeps for the wounded, Big Red found a way to defeat the Thunder 20-14 in a big-time victory that serves notice that the Marauders aren’t just hanging out in the muscle-bound SFL. They aim to compete for the championship.

Jesuit had two defensive stops inside the 5 yard line, Brody Quinn rushed for 84 yards and had a touchdown, John Giovannettone ran for 102 and hit the end zone, and Teddy Rio hit Stevie Hughes for a 42-yard TD strike on the money late for the team’s most significant victory of the season.

1. Folsom (4-1)

The Bulldogs had an off-week bye, all the better to prepare for Oak Ridge with the aim to inch closer to the program’s 10th SFL crown since joining the conference before the 2014 season.

2. Oak Ridge (4-1)

The Trojans used a late 14-play drive to beat Granite Bay 21-14, and now QB Nick Johnson gets to face some old friends at Folsom, where he was a student-athlete before his transfer.

3. Granite Bay (4-2)

The Grizzlies have two quality, tight losses to Bay Area powerhouse Pittsburg and the 21-14 effort against Oak Ridge. RB/DB Isaiah Ene is every bit a Bee Player of the Year candidate.

4. Grant (2-4)

How can the Pacers be ranked this high with this many losses? Simple. Strength of schedule matters, and the losses are to Northern California No. 1 De La Salle, to Folsom, to North Bay top-ranked Cardinal Newman and to San Diego No. 1 Lincoln. Who’s had a tougher schedule locally?

5. Twelve Bridges (5-0)

Stop the presses. The Raging Rhinos of Placer County did not win last week while riding a 24-game streak, dating back to 2023. Wait. Never mind. 12B had a bye. This is the Foothill Valley League favorite until further notice.

6. Del Oro (4-1)

Remember the grumps in Loomis and beyond who regularly went to social media pages in 2024 to demand the firing of the Golden Eagles coaches for an off year? Kindly take a seat and mute it. Del Oro is back in business, physical, opportunistic and well coached.

7. Monterey Trail (4-1)

The Mustangs of the Elk Grove Unified School District are the Delta League favorites with speed, ferocity and a tremendous running game. The loss was 35-21 to California of San Ramon, which is 5-0.

8. Inderkum (4-1)

The Tigers of Sacramento have a close opening loss to Monterey Trail and stand as a threat to win another Capital Valley Conference crown under another cool customer named Cole, as in QB Brody Cole.

9. Woodcreek (5-0)

The Timberwolves opened the season with a rout of Jesuit with additional ranked-wins over Whitney and Roseville. So maybe this is the CVC favorite? Showdown vs. Inderkum is Oct. 17.

10. Jesuit (4-2)

We heard the noise, and a lot of it fair: “Jesuit hasn’t beaten a quality team.” Refresh that. Rocklin is quality, and so was the 20-14 effort over the Thunder.

11. Rocklin (3-2)

The Thunder welcomed back coach Jason Adams, and a two-game losing streak to open SFL play adds all manner of urgency in a rivalry game this week against Whitney.

12. Vanden (4-1)

The Vikings of Fairfield in Solano County are a decades-long powerhouse, including CIF state championships in 2021 and 2024. This is the class of the Monticello Empire League and, perhaps, the section D-III race.

13. Roseville (4-1)

The Tigers are finally healthy, including QB leader Mason Susnara, and that makes them a legit threat in the Foothill Valley League and the D-IV playoff heap.

14. Sutter (6-0)

The Huskies play on natural grass at home, a throwback program on a throwback venue. The enemy is complacency.

15. Casa Roble (4-1)

The Rams of Orangevale have used the wake-up call loss to upstart Ponderosa to serve notice that they will battle Sutter for the Golden Empire League championship. That’s a regular-season finale.

16. Placer (3-2)

The Hillmen of Auburn have two quality nonleague losses to Casa Roble and Del Oro and expect to compete for the Foothill Valley League crown to add to an already crowded trophy case.

17. Whitney (2-3)

The Wildcats of Placer County opened with a 17-13 win over West Park and have quality nonleague setbacks to Woodcreek and Twelve Bridges, and the SFL schedule finishes with Rocklin, Granite Bay, Folsom, Oak Ridge and Jesuit.

18. West Park (3-3)

The Panthers of Roseville have quality losses to Whitney, Roseville and Reed of Roseville, beat Destiny Christian in Metro League play and take on Grant on Oct. 10. It’s all there to make a big run.

19. Destiny Christian (2-4)

The Lions of Sacramento are hopeful of some measure of good news from the CIF this week regarding a host of transfers. Grit goes only so far for a short-handed team.

20. Bradshaw Christian (4-1)

The Pride - as great of a mascot as there is - have a quality loss to Sutter and stand as the clear favorite to win another Sierra Valley Conference crown.

The Next 5

21. Vacaville (4-2)

22. Pleasant Grove (4-1)

23. Liberty Ranch (5-0)

24. Woodland Christian (4-2)

25. Pioneer (4-2)

8-Man Top 5

1. Mira Loma (4-0)

2. Delta (3-2)

3. Valley Christian (4-1)

4. Foresthill (5-0)

5. Vacaville Christian (4-1)

Sac-Joaquin Section Top 15

1. Folsom (4-1)

2. Oak Ridge (4-1)

3. Manteca (5-0)

4. St. Mary’s (3-2)

5. Granite Bay (4-2)

6. Grant (2-4)

7. Twelve Bridges (5-0)

8. Monterey Trail (4-1)

9. Inderkum (4-1)

10. Sonora (6-0)

11. Woodcreek (5-0)

12. Central Catholic (2-4)

13. Jesuit (3-2)

14. Rocklin (3-2)

15. Oakdale (4-1)