After losing five straight losses to
De La Salle (Concord) in
convincing fashion,
Folsom (Calif.) shocked the host Spartans 28-27 on Friday
night in the California Interscholastic Federation Northern California
Division I-AA Bowl championship.
Folsom football coach Paul Doherty said this week he was a De La Salle football fan because "I appreciate great football. ... They're the greatest sports thing going in the United States — any
sport, any level, anywhere."
Enjoy it coach. You just beat the greatest thing in sports.
The Bulldogs are the first Sac-Joaquin Section team to beat De La Salle
since 1978 Benicia pulled off that feat. It's also the first time in the
15-year history of the CIF playoffs De La Salle will not make it to a
state title game. The Spartans have won seven state crowns, more than
any school in the state. Folsom is second with four. The Bulldogs are
4-0 in state title games.
Senior quarterback
Tyler Tremain, knocked out of the last meeting between the two teams late in a 31-10 defeat earlier this season, accounted for all four touchdowns, including a 3-yard run with 2:12 remaining to go up 28-21.
The Spartans (10-3) went right down field on the ensuing possession and closed to 28-27 on a 42-yard bomb from
Luke Dermon to
Zeke Berry with 1:44 left. After a timeout out, Dermon flipped the ball on inside pass to Berry who was stopped short on a 2-point conversion sweep to the right.
Berry cut inside before getting to the corner and senior linebacker
Hunter Masterson (6-foot-3, 230 pounds) and senior
Ryan Sisson (6-3, 210) were first in on the tackle. Berry stretched the ball just inches short of the goal line.
Folsom (11-3) ran out the clock and then celebrated wildly. As it should have.
Austin McMillan holds up the CIF championship plaque following Folsom's historic 28-27 win at De La Salle Salle.
Photo by Dennis Lee
Folsom meets the Southern California champion
Cathedral Catholic (San Diego), which pulled out a remarkable 71-62 victory over Orange Lutheran (Orange).
De La Salle had defeated Folsom five previous times by an average score of 36-14, including a 31-10 trouncing Oct. 8 on the road.
Doherty, in his third season after replacing the dynamic coaching duo of Kris Richardson and Troy Taylor (now at Sacramento State), didn't back down from his outpouring of De La Salle earlier in the week. "That's the standard right there," an emotional Doherty told reporters. "It takes a village. It takes everybody. All the coaches, all the parents. They do everything for these kids. It's pretty awesome stuff."
But it took the guts and talents of Tremain ultimately to get the Bulldogs over the hump. The 5-foot-10, 170-pound senior accounted for 310 yards and all four scores. This after being battered and bruised the first game against De La Salle.
"He's incredible," Doherty told Darren Sabedra of the San Jose Mercury News. "He's off the charts."
Tyler Tremain (7) was tremendous in all facets, accounting for all four touchdowns, leading Folsom to victory.
Photo by Dennis Lee
De La Salle coach Justin Alumbaugh said he never considered even kicking the extra point. "No questions at all," he said. "We had all the momentum. We got the ball to our best player and they stopped him. Give them all the credit. Folsom played their tails off and deserved to win."
The Spartans looked like they were destined for another lopsided win over the Bulldogs, taking a 14-0 lead midway through the first quarter.
A 55-yard halfback option touchdown pass from Michigan-bound Berry to
Malik Viewins made it 7-0 and after a 3-and-out,
Charles Greer ran for a 14-yard touchdowns.
But the Bulldogs, as they did the entire half, showed great resolve.
They finished off an 84-yard drive with a 12-yard touchdown pass to
Austin McMillan at the end of the first half to gain momentum.
Then Tremaine scrambled in from the 9 to tie the game with 5:15 left in the half, aided by one of De La Salle's four turnovers, and one of its 11 first-half penalties.
De La Salle threatened deep before halftime, but turned the ball over each time, one on a fumble and once on an interception, the latter a
Rico Flores Jr. pick in the end zone to end the half.
Zeke Berry goes up for 42-yard touchdown grab to close De La Salle within 28-27 with 1:44 remaining.
Photo by Dennis Lee
"I warned our guys we can't let up, but we did," Alumbaugh said."Folsom never gave up or gave in. It was impressive. But four turnovers in one half against a team like that. .... You're not going to win many of those."
When Tremain scored on a 15-yard run on fourth down, Folsom took its first ever lead against the Spartans, 21-14 with 9:23 left in the third quarter.
Folsom's defense was dominating, stopping De La Salle seven straight possessions, before the Spartans tied the score on a defensive gem itself.
Ronald Pierce recovered a fumble after a completed pass and returned it 63 yards for touchdown. He wasn't touched. That made it 21-all with 8:45 left in the fourth quarter.
Once again Folsom and Tremain showed amazing resolve. Sacked two times in a row, on 3rd-and-20 deep in his own end, Tremain completed a 19-yard pass to Walker Lyons, the receiver who fumbled on the previous series. On 4th-and-one, Tremain drew the Spartans offside.
The diminutive but gritty quarterback then completed a 12-play, 80-yard drive with his 3-yard touchdown to go ahead, 28-21.
Alumbaugh earlier in the week was asked about Tremain, who missed two games after the injury against the Spartans. Not coincidentally, the Bulldogs lost those games. "He's just a great quarterback and I told him that after the (first game)," Alumbaugh said of Tremain. "He has a ton of guts. A bunch of moxie. He just makes play after play with both his arm and legs."
He did Friday night. Afterward he told Joe Davidson of the Sacramento Bee: "I's insane. Just crazy fun. I don't know if any of us really thought this could happen."
Hunter Masterson (57) and Ryan Sisson (51) are the first Bulldogs on the scene to stop Zeke Berry on De La Salle's two-point conversion try with 1:44 remaining.
Photo by Dennis Lee
The Folsom celebration begins on its sideline moments after the Bulldogs' 28-27 win at De La Salle.
Photo by Dennis Lee
Folsom's DJ Brown celebrates after a fumble recovery.
Photo by Dennis Lee
Zeke Berry, who committed to Michigan earlier in the day, was everywhere, opening with a 55-yard touchdown pass to open the scoring.
Photo by Dennis Lee
De La Salle running back A.J. Bianchina was swarmed by a Folsom defense that stopped the Spartans scoreless on seven consecutive possessions.
Photo by Dennis Lee
Luke Dermon, De La Salle quarterback
Photo by Dennis Lee
Austin McMillan goes up high for another catch. His 12-yard TD grab got Folsom right back into the game at 14-7.
Photo by Dennis Lee
Diallo Washington (16) helped to keep pressure on De La Salle quarterback Luke Dermon.
Photo by Dennis Lee
Tyler Tremain (7) kept battling all night, until leading his team to victory.
Photo by Dennis Lee
Tyler Tremain (7) is lifted by Christian Newberry-Jones (54) after scoring the eventual game-winning touchdown.
Photo by Dennis Lee
