Family fun fuels Granite Bay past Del Oro in another SFL grinder game

A cousin connection led the Granite Bay Grizzlies to a huge victory Friday night in Placer County against the visiting Del Oro Golden Eagles in another Sierra Foothill League scrum that came down to some drama in the final seconds.

Julio Ene-Basquez had a point-after block that proved to be the difference for The Sacramento Bee-ranked No. 3 Grizzlies, who defeated No. 6 Del Oro 14-13.

Ene-Basquez’s only catch of the game was a 35-yard play from Dominic Cattolico to extended a third-quarter drive and keep the Golden Eagles off the field. Ene-Basquez’s cousin, Isaiah Ene, had 193 yards rushing on 32 carries, including an 85-yard sprint in the second quarter to give Granite Bay a 14-7 lead.

Of the blocked kick, Ene-Basquez said, “I came off the edge, I just hoped I blocked it. I got my middle finger on it. He missed it. I think that kind of helped us.”

It was the play that ended up being the game-winner and allowing Granite Bay to move to 5-2 overall and 2-1 in SFL play after suffering a tough 21-14 loss at No. 2 Oak Ridge last week.

Ene-Basquez said his finger did not hurt after the block, certainly not like his snapped collarbone did after a scrimmage in August. Friday was his first game of the season, and his play on both sides of the ball was the difference maker.

Facing a third-and-long in the third quarter, Cattolico rolled to his left, pump-faked and found Ene-Basquez, who got behind the defense and was all alone.

“(Dom) trusted me to come back and get it,” Ene-Basquez said. “So I think that was a big part of it too, is he trusted me to come back to get the ball. I was open, like by 20 yards, literally nobody right there. It felt like the ball was in the air a long time But it all worked out. It all worked out.”

Del Oro (4-2, 1-1 in SFL) had a chance to set up a field goal with 1 second remaining, but without a timeout, the clock expired before the kicking team could set up. The kick would have been a 60-yard attempt. There was some confusion on the field, but the referees signaled game over, and another rough-and-tumble SFL tilt was decided by one touchdown or less.

Del Oro has now lost SFL games to Oak Ridge and Granite Bay — by a combined 5 points.

“The SFL is full of heavyweights, but this what you signed up for, to play and to coach against these guys,” Del Oro coach Josh Parry said before the game. “There are great teachers, great men, in this league. It’s a fraternity. We all play each other in the tough SFL and then see what happens in the playoffs. There are a lot of expectations, the culture has been established. It’s fun to see guys playing in college and the pros from this league. Each game is truly a ‘Friday Night Lights’ moment in time.”

Del Oro’s Jamison French recovered a fumbled snap and rumbled 51 yards for a score as time ran out in the first quarter. Nolen Sauve added a 21-yard quarterback keeper to cap the Golden Eagles’ scoring. The other Granite Bay score was a 3-yard run by Brody Walker.

“We played two SFL games coming in and both of them could have gone either way,” Granite Bay coach Joe Cattalico said before the game. “I think most of the games in our league have kind of been that way, thus far. So, it’s always a small margin, for sure.”

Add a third nail-biter for Granite Bay.

Dominic Cattolico didn’t have to do too much Friday — just hand the ball off to Isaiah Ene and watch him go. Cattolico is a game manager like his father is on the sidelines. The two talk about football constantly, the elder Cattolico said, but when the boss says to cool it, they do.

“There’s a lot of pressure that goes along with (playing for your father),” Cattolico said of Dominic. “I think hopefully it’s a good experience for both of us and good memories that you make in that process. Sometimes (the wife says enough football), for sure. Which is good. It’s a good balance. We try to balance it out for sure.”

The two cousins will be talking it up over the weekend, for sure.

“They’re both pretty quiet,” coach Cattolico said. “I mean, for teenage boys — it’s all relative, right?”