5-star QB Ryder Lyons is the star. Who are Folsom’s ‘elite’ supporting cast?
Ryder Lyons is the focal point for the Sacramento region’s top-ranked high school football team. The 5-star quarterback recruit is impossible to overlook with his skill set and ferocity as he has engineered the Folsom Bulldogs into a CIF Northern California championship game for the third consecutive season.
On Wednesday afternoon in the school library, Lyons was perched in the middle of a lineup of Bulldogs teammates at a long table. He was flanked by three teammates on his right and three on the left. They were there to sign letters of intent with their college of choice on National Signing Day, a moment shared by a room full of students, staff and parents, and a scene that included mothers and other relatives wiping away tears of pride.
And there was Lyons later, as the crowd dispersed, talking glowingly of his teammates. This is his norm. The 4.0-GPA student regularly talks more about teammates and coaches than he does himself. He insists it takes everyone to carry the load, even though he often handles the heavy lifting as a dual-threat playmaker tasked with leading the charge with his right-arm velocity and his churning legs on his 6-foot-3, 230-pound frame.
“It’s a family thing here,” Lyons said after signing with BYU. “We’re all brothers here. I’m surrounded by incredible people, so it makes my job at quarterback easy when you’re surrounded by elite athletes who are even better people, and they all have my back. I’m just so grateful to have them with me. We’re all super close.”
The signing party included twin brothers Brooks and August Dupree, defensive pieces who have helped fuel the Folsom machine that is 12-1 and will face 12-0 Riordan of San Francisco on Friday night at home in the Division 1-AA clash at 7:30 p.m. (aired on the streaming NFHS Network).
Brooks is headed to Army and August is off to Dartmouth of the Ivy League, both of them exceptional students as well as in-game stoppers.
Vlad Dyakonov, all 6-foot-6 and 275 pounds of him, signed with USC. He is an example of a young man who grew into his lengthy frame and going from a so-so player into a dominant one, all rooted in work ethic.
Jason Hill Jr., a two-way Folsom star, signed with Stanford to play defensive back. He checked off favorably on all the must-have boxes, including exceptional student.
Receiver Jameson Powell signed with Oregon State after a whirlwind week that included his original school of choice, Ole Miss, losing head coach Lane Kiffin to LSU. Powell’s relief was reflective on his father’s face.
“Crazy couple of days,” James Powell said. “Just so proud of all of these kids here. They’ll never forget today.”
And there was Isaiah Williams, a receiver off to Nevada to play for the Wolfpack. Like the others seated with him, Williams said football “changed my life” as he expressed appreciation to everyone in the room, including the quarterback star who gets him the ball.
Lyons this season has passed for 3,270 yards and 34 touchdowns, and he has rushed for 14 scores. He accounted for all three scores in Folsom’s 21-14 win over rival Oak Ridge as the Bulldogs won their fifth consecutive Division I section championship.
Powell has 72 receptions for 1,203 yards and 13 touchdowns, and he is a threat on kickoff and punt returns. Williams has 46 catches for 609 yards and six scores. Hill Jr. has three TD grabs and averages six tackles a game, and he leads the team with six interceptions.
August and Brooks Dupree have made stops all season, quiet players known to play loudly.
“It takes everyone to make it work,” Folsom coach Paul Doherty said. “These kids have done it all.”
Lyons, teammates not ready for season to end
Lyons said he worked countless hours with his receivers to sharpen their skills, including winter sessions in the fog, spring workouts in the rain and summer workouts where the unrelenting sun broiled them as they ran routes.
“We’ve put in a lot of work that a lot of people don’t know — it goes unseen,” Lyons said. “People don’t really know how hard it is to go Division I on scholarship. So much work. I think it’s a blessing. Some may think it’s easy to do this. It’s not. It’s hard. You really have to work at it. I trust these guys, my teammates, fully, with my whole heart.”
Lyons said he won’t allow himself to believe that the season is fast coming to a close. It either ends Friday against Riordan, or it ends Dec. 12 in Orange County in the CIF State Division 1-AA title game. Lyons will graduate early from Folsom, next month, and head off to Florida for a 1-year Mormon mission.
“It’s very emotional to think about the end, and I don’t like thinking about it, but it does make me appreciate the wonderful times we’ve all had,” Lyons said. “I know I won’t forget these guys.”
Nor will they forget him.