A pair of Northern California football games sparked a national onslaught of late drama and upset specials.
A major freeze – by California standards – struck Sacramento County over the weekend.
Warming up water cooler discussions and keyboards everywhere around the region wasn’t the NBA Kings, the city’s lone professional franchise.
Instead two remarkable high school football games that were played on back-to-back frigid nights at Praire View Stadium on the campus of Folsom High School acted as warm mugs of joe.
Del Oro's Bryce Pratt (20) was a one-man wrecking crew.
Photo by Andy Garza
That’s right, the prepsters took center stage. Both nights close to 10,000 jammed into brightly-lit facility.
On Friday, Del Oro (Loomis) fought back from a 42-14 deficit in the third quarter to win 43-42 over the home team on a late two-point conversion.
On Saturday, the nation’s No. 16 team and defending state Open Division Bowl champion Grant (Sacramento) had its 26-game win streak derailed by another 12-0 team Rocklin 21-19.
What set the message boards ablaze and region on its ear was the games ended in identical shocking fashion – missed 22-yard field goals.
Unfathomable.
“Hard to believe,” Del Oro coach Casey Taylor said of both finishes on Tuesday. “Remarkable.”
But folks, this wasn’t only a Folsom phenomenon. Prep nation was bombarded with some of the most improbable games, fantastic finishes and gut-wrenching defeats – many that decided state titles or state title-game bids.
Here are 10 that graded “Wow” on either the competitive or upset meter.
1. Del Oro 43, Folsom 42
We covered just about it all HERE, but three days later Taylor is still getting calls from non-believers still wanting explanations how his team came back from a 35-7 halftime deficit against a red-hot team riding one of Northern California’s all-time greatest season by junior quarterback Deno Graves.
Folsom QB Dano Graves (7) could not be stopped.
Photo by Andy Garza
The 5-foot-11, 175-pounder was 18 of 23 for 324 yards and had a hand in all six Folsom touchdowns. He accounted for – get this! – a staggering 66 touchdowns this season: 52 passing and 14 rushing. But Del Oro had brave and punishing running back Bryce Pratt who rushed 39 times for 327 yards and four touchdowns, including three 1-yard dives, the last with 40 seconds left to pull within 42-41.
Rather than go for the tie, the Golden Eagles went for two and after a pair of timeouts, Pratt went around left end for the game-winner. Gutsy call by Taylor, who said it was a unanimous decision from his bench.
“We had all the momentum and we were wearing them down,” he said. “We’d scored 20 points in six minutes and had them reeling. Honestly, I’m more of a kick it and go to overtime guy but it just seemed like the right thing to do.”
It was right to go left as well.
“We haven’t gone left all year,” he said.
Del Oro hadn’t attempted an onside kick all year either, but recovered two of them, aiding greatly to the comeback.
Then was the last-second field goal that missed. Graves fearlessly drove his team to the Del Oro 5 as the time seemed to expire. But wait, the referees converged and put a second on the clock.
Folsom brought out its kicking team and if not for the paw of Brandon Markin, a 5-foot-11, 180-pound senior, Del Oro would have likely been cooked. Markin deflected the low but straight kick, the ball then caromed into the brisk air and seemed to hang like in slow motion.
It then clanked off the cross bar and caromed backward toward the line of scrimmage. No good, setting off a wild celebration.
Asked when he got to bed that night, Taylor said. “I still don’t think I’ve gone to bed,” he said. “No probably about 3:30 (a.m.) or so. I think all night we were all thinking, ‘wow, that really happened?’ “
2. Rocklin 21, Grant 19
Rocklin (13-0) took a commanding 21-6 halftime lead but Grant came storming back behind Devontae Butler (33 carries, 214 yards, three TDs) to close to 21-19. When the Pacers, who committed four turnovers, blocked a punt deep into Rocklin territory late, it looked like Grant would find a way to win as it usually does.
But first-and-goal from inside the Rocklin 1, the Pacers couldn’t convert on three straight runs from Butler. No push. No hole. No victory. Behind linebackers B.J. Roberts and Sean Moore, the Thunder wouldn’t give in.
The chip shot field goal was pulled ever so slightly and Grant was dethroned. Rocklin prevailed thanks also to a fabulous job by quarterback Jimmy Laughrea (229 yards passing, two TDs) and his offensive line that gave up no sacks against a vaunted Grant front that had a state-record 77 sacks.
“It's a tribute to our guys, to the heart of our team, and at the end with that goal-line stand, our guys were locked arm-to-arm and denied a touchdown," Rocklin coach Greg Benzel told the Sacramento Bee. “I can't explain it. Amazing.”
3. Davidson (Hilliard, Ohio) 16, Glenville 15
If you have a chance to upset the nation’s No. 8 team, don’t mess around. That was Davidson coach Brian White’s thinking as he called for a two-point conversion with 1:04 remaining and quarterback Jake Trubiano delivered.
Trubiano not only scored the decisive points but he set up Spencer Delande’s touchdown run to pull within 15-14 with a 73-yard jaunt a few plays earlier.
"Some of the assistants said to kick, tie it and try for overtime," White told the Associated Press. "Everybody says we’re conservative and play boring games, but I have faith in my players. You make it and it’s a good call."
It was the second straight upset for Davidson, which knocked off Elder (Cincinnati) the week before. Glenville was trying to become the first Cleveland public school to win a state crown.
4. Marcos de Niza (Tempe, Ariz.) 16, Centennial (Peoria) 14
The nation’s sixth-ranked team, riding a 39-game win streak, was absolutely stunned when Justin Rodriguez intercepted a pass in the end zone with less than 10 seconds to play in the Class 5A Division II semifinal game.
Centennial had a chance to pull it out and drove to the Marcos de Niza 25, but quarterback Dain McFarland’s lofting pass in the back corner of the end zone was picked off by Rodriguez, who earlier scored two touchdowns.
His interception made Devon Jones’ 33-yard field goal with 6:11 remaining stand up.
“Words can’t express it,” Rodriguez told the Arizona Republic. “That was definitely the biggest catch of my life.”
5. Dorman (Roebuck, S.C.) 28, Byrnes (Duncanville) 17
We saw in first-person this heated rivalry in 2008. In fact, we saw Dorman knock off perennial state champion and national power Byrnes during the regular season.
But this was different. This was for 2009 4A Division I state crown and Dorman did it the old-fashion way, scoring a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns to defeat the nation’s second-ranked team in front of 12,000 fans at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia.
Dorman (14-1) led most of the way until All-American running back Marcus Lattimore (32 carries, 151 yards) scored his second TD with 8:55 left to give Byrnes a 17-14 lead. Most probably figured Byrnes would ride it out from there. The Rebels really outplayed the nation’s top-ranked team Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale) in a 42-34 loss in Florida last Oct. 2, and had scored a ridiculous 750 points coming into the game.
But keyed by a huge 41-yard reception by one of the nation’s top junior receivers Charone Peake, A.J. Booker scored a go-ahead 2-yard TD and then defensive back John Parker returned an interception 56 yards for another score, giving Dorman the title.
6. Chaparral (Temecula, Calif.) 43, Centennial (Corona) 35 (OT)
The Southern part of California – particularly the Inland Empire – saw its own drama as the defending state Division I champion Huskies were dethroned as Mitch Glasmann threw for 329 yards, a touchdown and run for another in overtime.
Centennial fought back from deficits of 28-7 in the third quarter and 35-21 late in the fourth but after tying it up on touchdown passes of 14 and 64 yards by Michael Eubank, and a last-second two-point conversion. But following Glassmann’s TD run in overtime and a two-point conversion run (after a botched extra point try), Darius Guillory intercepted a pass to end the Southern Section Inland Division semifinal game.
7. Vista Murrieta (Calif.) 34, Norco 33
Down 27-7, Vista Murrieta (13-0) came all the way back capped by a 32-yard touchdown pass from Derrick Brown to Casey Marquez with just over two minutes to go.
The TD came on a 4th-and-7 play with the entire game on the line. Norco (11-2), which had won six games by a touchdown or less, had taken a big lead behind its smashmouth running attack. Vista Murrieta fought back behind a pair of special teams touchdowns. Norco fought back again and regained the lead on a 7-yard TD by Carl Bradford, but Brown and Marquez pulled it out in the end.
It ended what could have been an absolute dream season for Norco coach Todd Gerhart, whose son Toby is a finalist for the Heisman Trophy.
8. Cumberland Valley (Mechanicsburg, Pa.) 34, Bishop McDevitt (Harrisburg) 27 (OT)
Not only did another ranked team go down, but 10th-ranked McDevitt committed five turnovers, the last ended the game with an interception by Cumberland Valley’s Kevin Snyder in the District 3 Class AAAA championship.
Travis Friend scored the go-ahead TD in overtime and after Snyder’s interception the Cumberland Valley student body stormed the snow-filled field. Their team won its first state title since 2003.
9. Dale (Chester, Va.) 20, Oscar Smith (Chesapeake) 17
Another game where conditions probably played a factor, 24th-ranked Smith not only saw its chance for a second straight state Group AAA Division 6 title slip away but its 28-game win streak.
Under extremely muddy conditions, along with rain, snow and wind, Demetrick Jackson scored on an 8-yard touchdown in overtime. Smith has relied heavily on the passing of record-breaking quarterback Phillip Sims, could manage just 10 attempts, three completions for 46 yards.
He finished his with 10,725 career yards and 119 touchdown passes.
10. Mullen (Denver, Colo.) 27, Pomona (Arvada) 24
Mullen (14-0) fell behind 16-0 in the first five minutes, but scored 27 unanswered points to take its second straight Class 5A title, the first to repeat since Columbine in 1999-2000.
It wasn’t until senior defensive lineman Sammie Wood fell on a bad snap inside the Mullen 50 did the winners finally celebrate. By doing so, Mullen moved into the top 25 for the first time all season at No. 24.
