Monterey Trail Boys Lose In Soccer Playoff Opener

The only EG-area soccer team to make the playoffs this fall were the Monterey Trail Mustangs. But, in Monday's post-season opener they dropped a 3-1 decision to Granite Bay.

Good job this season by coach Jonathan Strack and the Mustangs.

EG, PG Tennis Both Lose In Playoffs

The Elk Grove girls' tennis team, following Monday's 6-3 win over Napa, were shutout, 9-0, Tuesday by Granite Bay.

Pleasant Grove also lost Tuesday, 7-2, to St. Mary's. The Eagles defeated Vacaville, 7-2, on Monday in the opening round.

 

PG Girls Place Third At Section Masters

The Pleasant Grove High School girls’ golf team placed third at the Sac-Joaquin Section’s Masters Tournament Monday at the Reserve at Spanos Park in Stockton. This means the Eagles will move on to play next Monday at the Nor-Cal High School golf event which will be played at Brookside Country Club in Stockton.

That’s a first for the girls’ golf program at Pleasant Grove and perhaps a city of Elk Grove first.

The Eagles – Sarah Debnekoff (74), Brittany O’Bryant (84), Marissa Mallicoat (85), Anna Jeffries (86), Lauren Covey (96) and Kiki Trujillo-Nava (97) – combined to shoot a 425, ten strokes behind Masters’ team champion St. Francis. Second was Lodi which shot a 419.

Debnekoff’s 74, two-over-par,  was four strokes behind medalist Sara Scarlett of Woodland. She fired a two-under-par 70. She along with Whitney’s Kelsey Ulep, Maddy Gedeon of Oakmont and Paige Lee of Granite Bay will move onto the NorCal’s as individual golfers.

Franklin High School golfer Kylie Fong shot an 81 and teammate Gurman Kaur fired an 85. They did not qualify for the Nor-Cal event.

“But, next year they will make it,” Franklin girls’ golf coach Shelly Walsh said on Monday. “It was a beautiful day. We all thought about last week and how miserable that was.”

In rain and wind at the Section’s Division I tournament on Oct. 22 at Serrano Country Club the Franklin team finished in fifth place, one spot away from qualifying for Monday’s Masters event.

Cosumnes Oaks’ golfer Morgan Walker shot a 94 Monday. 

Valley Hi CC To Host Rappleye Bros. Fundraiser

Triplet brothers Grant, Cameron and Trevor Rappleye all enjoyed baseball and soccer growing up in Elk Grove, just like thousands of other boys. As they grew they also developed an interest in golf, following their dad, Kevin, to Valley Hi Country Club and just hanging around, but then learning how to play the game.

Cameron got the itch to learn the game first at age 12. A year later Grant started playing. A few years later the pair were the class of high school golf playing at Christian Brothers High School.

Trevor? What happened to him?

“He picked up the clubs a few times one summer, “ Grant said. “He and mom took a few lessons, but they didn’t like it.”

Now after leading the Sacramento State golf team into the NCAA Division I championships last spring, the other two Rappleye have their eyes set on becoming pros. On Thursday Valley Hi will host a fundraising event to garner what they hope would be about $40,000, the amount needed to cover the first year of expenses for Grant and Cameron as professional golf competitors.

The cost for golf, a 12:30 p.m. shotgun start, and dinner that evening is $150. 

Week Nine Scoreboard

Delta Valley Conference

Elk Grove 54, Monterey Trail 40  Frazier (EG) 16-217 yards, 5 TD's; Parker (EG) 22-178 yards, 2 TD's. Powell (MT) 14-159 yds., 3 TD's; Robinson (MT) 13-101 yards, 2 TD's.

Franklin 66, Laguna Creek 8
Grant 48, Davis 14

Delta River League

Oak Ridge 38, Pleasant Grove 19
Folsom 42, Ponderosa 25
Saturday - Sheldon vs. Jesuit

Sierra Valley Conference

Cosumnes Oaks 58, Liberty Ranch 21
River City 48, Galt 6
Union Mine 53, El Dorado 28

Metro Conference

Burbank 40, McClatchy 14
Johnson 14, Valley 0
Rosemont 49, Florin 27
Sacramento 53, Kennedy 0

Midweek Notebook:Backs To The Wall-M.T.,Jesuit

There's two weeks remaining in the regular season of high school football. In order to qualify for the Div. I-IV post-season the teams must finish first or second in their league. Then the next best 24 teams in the 40 leagues that comprise the Sac-Joaquin Section's biggest divisions are slid into the playoff brackets based on total wins. Plus, the "wild-card" teams have to win two league games.

So who's on the "bubble?"

First comes Monterey Trail, a team with a 5-3 record, but only one Delta Valley Conference win. Friday they play at Elk Grove and conclude the regular season with a home game against Franklin. Six wins would pretty much assure them a place in the Division I bracket, but can they beat either DVC front-runner?

Davis (5-3, 2-1 DVC) has beat Laguna Creek and M.T. They, too, may slide into Division I. A win over Grant Friday would pretty much assure them a spot and at the same time knock the Pacers out of the playoffs for the first time in 22 seasons. If the Blue Devils do make the post-season it would be their first time since 2007.

Jesuit is 4-4, but 0-3 in the Delta River League. They must beat Sheldon Saturday and Oak Ridge the week after just to get in. Ponderosa is 5-3 after starting the season with four straight wins. They play Folsom Friday and finish at Sheldon. One win in the last two would place them in either Div I or II (likely II) bracket for the first time in a long, long time.

Pleasant Grove is 3-0 in the DRL and pretty much has the post-season made. They'll face Oak Ridge Friday and then travel to Folsom to end the regular year. Likely that last game will determine the DRL championship.

Another note:
The Section has chosen a committee of principals and athletic directors to start talks about league realignments beginning with the 2014-2015 school year.  No one from Elk Grove is on this committee. Schools were asked to fill out a survey where the school could request a move to a different league based on travel, future school enrollment, competitive programs and the like.

The first meeting about realignment will be Jan. 8 at the Reserve at Spanos Park in Stockton at 9 a.m. It is open to the public.

Don't be surprised if Cosumnes Oaks ends up being placed in the Delta Valley Conference with Franklin, Elk Grove, probably Laguna Creek, too.

Fittest of Elk Grove

Here are the results of the third annual "Fittest of Elk Grove" event held this past weekend at Bartholomew Park. Congrats to Dallas Broussard, who is older than me, and won the 50+ men's event
and his wife, Pam, who was second in the same age group for women.

58-year old Dallas Broussard (middle) won the "Fittest of Elk
Grove" competition for men age 50+. On the left is Rob Folks
and on the right is Mitch Lopez

Female 17 & Under
1st – Alexis Sakaris
2nd – Liliana Higuera
Male 17 & Under
1st – Aaron Bernatchy
2nd – Brandon Perryman
3rd – Joseph Esparza
Female 18 – 34
1st – Lissa Zamola
2nd – Danice Discipulo
3rd – Kasey Beckman

Male 18 – 34
1st – Derick Daniels
2nd – Darrell Taylor
3rd – Joe Glover

Results of Div I North Girls' Golf

Despite the rain and wind, the girls' golf teams competed Monday in the Sac-Joaquin Section's Division I -  North tournament at Serrano Country Club in El Dorado Hills.

The four teams that qualified for next Monday's Section Masters tournament are St. Francis, Pleasant Grove, Rocklin and Granite Bay. Two members of the Delta Valley Conference champion Franklin team, Kylie Fong and Gurman Kaur, each fired an 85. They finished in the top six individually so they'll both advance to the Masters.

This will be the second year in a row for Fong to compete in the Masters.

Here are the top four team scores:
St. Francis 445
Pleasant Grove 460
Rocklin 483
Granite Bay 496

Franklin Plugs EG Rushing Attack, Wins 17-7

Elk Grove came into its biggest game of the year Friday night, a showdown against Delta Valley Conference foe Franklin, averaging 354 yards rushing a game. But, the Wildcats had plans to stop the Herd and its top running back, Robert Frazier, a senior who has already gained 1,095 yards.

Franklin's defense combined with a balanced offensive attack kept the Herd offense on the sidelines much of the first half, limited Elk Grove to just 126 yards total offense and won its eighth game of the year against no defeats in beating the Herd, 17-7.

"We have a really good defense," Wildcat coach Mike Johnson said succinctly.

Franklin linebacker Joey Banks was a bit more verbose in describing his team's performance.

"I want to shout it out for my scout team because this was the hardest we ever worked with scout and that helped us every day," Banks, who had eight-and-a-half tackles, said. "It made us come out really fired up. I told the defense, 'they won't go down easy, we have to wrap them up and that's what we did."

With the win Franklin tied its school record set in 2010 when it started the season 8-0. For Elk Grove (7-1, 2-1 DVC), it was their first regular season loss since the 2010 season.



In other local football games from Friday:

Franklin vs. EG Is Maxpreps' National Game Of Week

The top high school football game nationally tonight is our top game locally, Franklin vs. Elk Grove. That according to the popular prep sports website, Maxpreps. On its homepage, Maxpreps has a photo of EG running back Robert Frazier and Franklin all-purpose guy Kyran Harris. 

Photo on homepage of Maxpreps.Com

Those two guys will figure in greatly who wins tonight's showdown between a pair of 7-0 teams. Both teams have everything you need to be outstanding - speed, size, hard hitting defense and a kicking game. 

I've seen both teams a couple times apiece this year and I still hold to my prediction earlier this season that Franklin will win. 

Here's why:

Franklin Women Win DVC Golf Title

Ten years ago when Shelly Walsh, a golf instructor at Valley Hi Country Club, agreed to coach the girls’ golf team at Franklin High School she was just hoping she’d have at least five girls come out and play. She needed at least that many to compete in the high school events.

“I even brought along a couple sets of clubs in case no one had their own,” Walsh recalled.

She had several girls who never had played the game but wanted to come out for the fun. Things have really changed since.

Franklin's DVC Champs - ( top left to right) Kylie Fong, Danielle
Hicks, Summer Zakaria, Cherrish Hardy, Jade Tso.
(Bottom left to right) Gurman Kaur, Coach Shelly Walsh

“I have girls who get private lessons and play in tournaments all summer,” Walsh said. 

For the first time ever Franklin’s girls’ golf team won the Delta Valley Conference championship. Monday at Wildhawk Golf Club, the site of the fourth and final DVC tournament of the season, the Wildcat golfers combined for a score of 406, a stroke behind defending champion Davis. 

But, over the four outings Franklin scored 21 strokes better than the Blue Devils’ squad and thus won the conference team championship. Franklin sophomore Kylie Fong was the low medalist Monday firing a 71 while freshman Gurman Kaur shot a 74.

That resulted in both girls tying for the season-long DVC medalist trophy. Both scored 300 over the four tournaments. The teammates then played a sudden death round and Kaur defeated Fong on the second extra hole. She then picked up the title of conference Most Valuable Player.

The pair along with teammates Danielle Hicks, Cherrish Hardy, Jade Tso and Summer Zakaria will all compete next Monday in the Sac-Joaquin Section’s Division I tournament at Serrano Country Club in El Dorado Hills.

Also joining the Franklin and Davis teams at the D-I 18-hole tournament are the top three individual golfers in the DVC, not a part of either the Wildcat or Blue Devil teams. They are Sarah Friedrich of Laguna Creek and Katrina Lianillo and Hannah Perrera, both from Elk Grove.

Who Will Make The Playoffs?

As Franklin and Elk Grove are preparing for their Delta Valley Conference showdown Friday, Pleasant Grove will host Jesuit Friday in a Delta River League contest. A win by the Eagles here in week eight pretty much assures them of a post-season position with two weeks remaining. Same thing for Folsom as they come to Sheldon High School for what may not be a very close game.

(see the list of wins by each Sac-Joaquin Section team up to this point)

Friday's Oak Ridge/Ponderosa game is intriguing because neither team has a place in the post-season even though both have had good seasons to this point. If the Trojans win, they'll solidify a spot because that will be their seventh win and their second league victory. Ponderosa has five wins, but must win at least one more time to get into the playoffs.

In the DVC Monterey Trail plays Grant. The Mustangs have one league win and five overall. If they beat the Pacers, they'll probably get in the post-season with games against Elk Grove and Franklin to follow.

Cosumnes Oaks has its toughest game of the year Friday as it travels to Folsom and plays Vista del Lago. That game will likely determine the winner of the Sierra Valley Conference.

Nugent, Former Herd QB, Now Ironman Competitor

It’s now been more than 30 years since Terry Nugent played football for Elk Grove High School. The 51-year-old remains quite active physically. That’s because he competes regularly in Ironman triathlons.

Earlier this year he took first in his age group in an Ironman 70.3 competition in Lubbock, TX. The 70.3 is half as long as a regular Ironman event. Competitors start with a 1.2 mile swim followed by a 56 mile bike ride and conclude with a 13.1 mile run.

Nugent’s time was four hours, 30 minutes and 32 seconds. He was also second at an Ironman 70.3 in Oceanside in March.

Former EGHS QB Terry Nugent

“Working, training and coaching is about all I do now,” the father of three, now living in the Denver area, said. He along with former Bronco receiver Ed McCaffrey coach their 11-year-old sons’ football team. 

Nugent was a two-year starter for the Thundering Herd at quarterback and in 1979 led Elk Grove to a Capital Valley Conference championship, but lost in the opening game of the post-season to Cordova.


(Listen to our interview in its entirety)

“We got our butts kicked but at least we laid a foundation for a pretty good set of teams that followed,” Nugent said. “We had some pretty good guys on that team. Bob Bennett went on a full ride to Stanford that year.”

Nugent and an Elk Grove teammate, Tom Ehlers, who was the Herd starting center, were recruited by former University of Pacific head coach Chester Caddas to attend Colorado State. Caddas had just resigned at UOP and taken a job as the defensive coordinator at CSU.

D'Erryl To Join Dakarai At SDSU, Derin To WA.

Sheldon High School teammates D'Erryl Williams and Dakarai Allen will remain teammates in college.  Allen decided a month ago he'd like to play basketball for Steve Fisher at San Diego State. D'Erryl announced over the weekend, he'd like to also become an Aztec. The Sheldon pair will join former Sacramento High star Chase Tapley and Pleasant Grove's Xavier Thames in San Diego.

Also this weekend, their newest Huskies' teammate Derin Johnson said he'll play collegiately for Washington. Johnson played his first three high school seasons at Franklin. ....

Wildcat athletic director Mike Cody texted Monday night that his girls' golf team won the Delta Valley Conference championship by 21 strokes. That's the first time in more than 11 years that neither Davis nor St. Francis won the DVC/Delta League title.

Wildcat teammates Gurman Kaur, a freshman, and sophomore Kylie Fong tied for medalist honors and had to playoff for that award, won by Kaur. Also on the squad are Cherrish Hardy, Danielle Hicks, Jade Tso, and Summer Zakaria.

Congratulations to coach Shelly Walsh and the Wildcat golfers on this great honor.

Who Wins? Franklin vs. Elk Grove

This definitely will be the best game of the week and the game of the year, too. Two undefeated local teams, Franklin and Elk Grove, face off Friday night for not only the area's top ranking, but likely the Delta Valley Conference championship, too, with still two more games to follow.

Both of those are very winnable for either Franklin or Elk Grove.

So, who wins this week? Personally, I like Franklin's depth, because of the fact so many guys touch the ball. In last week's record-setting 72-7 romp over Davis, eight different boys scored touchdowns. Christian Fonbuena and Kyran Harris had the big numbers. Four or five others could be the man this Friday.

Elk Grove has the fastest defense in the Section. They completely stopped Grant, a team with decent speed, 24-0 last week. But, their challenge will be stopping Franklin's ability to run north-south, right at you, between tackles.

And if any team has to throw the ball and get downfield quickly, I'd give the edge to Trent Spallas, the Wildcats' quarterback over Tommy Arnold of Elk Grove.

Thus, my nod to Franklin.

What do the Herd need to do to win? Control the line of scrimmage offensively, run off seven-minute-plus drives - something they've done all year. Additionally, for Elk Grove to win I think they need a couple defensive turnovers. They'll need at least one defensive TD likely.

If the game came down to kicking a field goal, both teams have kickers that could do it. Justin Singh (Elk Grove) and Tyler Ramel (Franklin) both have good feet and are accurate.

Now, your thoughts, please!

Special note: great feature on Chase Zamora, former EGHS football player, now at Sacramento City College in Joe Davidson's Hometown Report.

Week Seven Scoreboard

Delta Valley Conference

Franklin 72, Davis 7 (Wildcats force four turnovers, Christian Fonbuena and Kyran Harris each gain 100-yards plus and score a pair of TD's)
Listen to Wildcat coach Mike Johnson talk about his team's record-setting performance


Elk Grove 24, Grant 0 (it's now Franklin vs. Elk Grove, a pair of 7-0 teams for first place in the DVC up for grabs this Friday at EGHS)
Monterey Trail 26, Laguna Creek 3 (Mustangs stay alive for a possible playoff berth)

Delta River League

Pleasant Grove 35, Ponderosa 7
Oak Ridge 63, Sheldon 7
Saturday 1 p.m., Folsom vs. Jesuit

Sierra Valley Conference

Cosumnes Oaks 43, El Dorado 0
River City 20, Liberty Ranch 17
Vista del Lago 68, Galt 13

Metro Conference

Burbank 69, Valley 0
Florin 34, Kennedy 0
McClatchy 51, Johnson 40

Saunders Could Play Saturday For OU

Former Pleasant Grove and Fresno State wide receiver Jalen Saunders will be in uniform and could play Saturday when Oklahoma takes on Texas in the annual Red River Shootout at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas.

Joe Davidson of the Bee wrote a short story how Saunders who left Fresno State last spring for OU won his appeal to play this fall for the Sooners based on the fact the Bulldogs got a new coaching staff following the dismissal of longtime head man Pat Hill.

Saunders while at PG was one of the Section's top sprinters, regularly finishing near or at the top of the 100 meter dash. Last year at Fresno, he was an all-Western Athletic Conference selection.

On another note, the Bee's Nathaniel Levine projected the high school football playoff picture presuming the season would end now after six games. Interesting that Franklin, Elk Grove, Cosumnes Oaks, Pleasant Grove and Monterey Trail would all be post-season qualifiers. I think the first three have the post-season pretty well in lock.

Pleasant Grove will be in, likely, if they can beat a very good Ponderosa team at their home field tomorrow night. That's not a certainty. The Bruins are doing quite well this season.

I have to doubt the Mustangs will reach the post-season. At 4-2 they need two wins to get there and I just don't think they will do it. They'll probably defeat Laguna Creek, but I don't think they'll beat any of the other DVC teams. A couple teams at 5-5 made the playoffs last year, but remember, a team must win two games in their league.

Levine's projection has all Delta River League teams in the post-season except for Sheldon. He has also Davis of the Delta Valley Conference projected into the Division I bracket. Davis will give Franklin a tough ball game Friday. It's the best Blue Devil team I've seen since I've lived here.

Friday is a must-win for Grant at 2-4. Elk Grove may be too tough an opponent for the Pacers, however.

And one more note - the Sac-Joaquin Section's Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will be Sunday at Power Balance Pavilion. Forty-three people will be honored including Sheldon softball coach Mary Jo Truesdale. Couldn't be any more prouder for this wonderful lady who has won 579 games over her coaching career, primarily at Elk Grove and Sheldon, along with five Section championships at Sheldon.

Wednesday Notebook/Scoreboard

GIRLS' VOLLEYBALL

Franklin defeated Grant, 25-21, 25-13, 25-14.
Monterey Trail defeated Davis, 27-25, 12-25, 25-22, 23-25, 15-10

BOYS' SOCCER

Franklin 3, Monterey Trail 1
Grant 4, Laguna Creek 1

****

Lance Briggs and Chicago Bear teammate Charles Tillman have together done something that has never happened in the history of the NFL. They both returned interceptions for touchdowns in back-to-back games.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, that’s an NFL first.

Fittest of Elk Grove - Qualifier #2 Results

The Fittest of Elk Grove Qualifier #2 at WarriorZ went very well. Here's a report from Brian Detrick, one of the coordinators of the event:

We had 50 participants at Qualifier #2. (87 between the 2 qualifiers) Thank you to all the sponsors, competitors, WarriorZ & CrossFit 916 for hosting and the spectators that helped make these qualifiers successful with an estimate of 900+ in attendance for the 2 qualifiers. This event gets bigger and better every year. Having Byers Gymnastics doing exhibitions with boys from 5 to 15 was an awesome display of fitness and balance that really added to the event! Also having a 13 year old girl and a 64 year old man really shows that fitness does not have any age barriers! Congrats to all of the men and women that are moving on to the finals on October 21st (at Bartholomew Park)
Here are the results:

Thoughts on H.S. Football/Titans Are For Real

I just finished watching Burbank roll up 67 points on Florin Saturday. It was like a college team scrimmaging a bunch of high schoolers. The Titans are the real deal, too bad they are in a league with lots of poor athletic programs.

I don't want to diss the coaches at the City schools which make up the Metro Conference. I know they work with the kids they have at their school and try hard. Many of the good student/athletes who live in Sacramento migrate elsewhere to play high school ball.

Yet, explain to me how one of this Section's top football teams play at a school located in a poverty-stricken neighborhood along Florin Road?

I know. It's because John Heffernan, James Pale and the rest of the coaching staff ignore the surroundings, the oft-times apathy and bring the very best out of their guys. I walk by the weight room in the off-season and there's the football players. I bet if I were to do the same thing at many other schools those rooms would be empty.

It doesn't hurt, too, that your school got a $9.3 million dollar stadium last year.

Coaching is now a year-round job, no matter the sport. If the coaches and the players aren't committed to it, then you'll be on the wrong end of 67-12 games every weekend in the fall like what happened to the Panthers on Saturday.

Week Six Scoreboard

Delta Valley Conference

Davis 42, Monterey Trail 7 (Grant Dickerson, QB, 19-of-26, 250 yards, two TD's)
Franklin 35, Grant 26
Elk Grove 52, Laguna Creek 7

Delta River League

Folsom 49, Oak Ridge 21
Pleasant Grove 55, Sheldon 20
Tomorrow - Ponderosa vs. Jesuit

Sierra Valley League

Cosumnes Oaks 55, Galt 17
Liberty Ranch 54, Union Mine 6
Vista del Lago 51, River City 28

Metro Conference

Valley 26, Kennedy 20
Rosemont 30, McClatchy 14
Tomorrow - Florin vs. Burbank
Johnson vs. Sacramento

Sierra Delta League

Golden Sierra 28, Bradshaw Christian 14

League Games Start Tonight

Our local football teams all open the Delta Valley Conference and Delta River League slate of games tonight. Here's the schedule of games:

Delta Valley Conference

Laguna Creek vs. Elk Grove
Franklin vs. Grant
Davis vs. Monterey Trail (follow me on Twitter tonight on this one)

Delta River League

Sheldon vs. Pleasant Grove
Folsom vs. Oak Ridge (two undefeated teams pair up here)
Ponderosa vs. Jesuit (Sat. 1 p.m.)

Metro Conference

Florin vs. Burbank (Sat. 1 p.m.)
Valley vs. Kennedy

OTHERS

Galt vs. Cosumnes Oaks
Golden Sierra vs. Bradshaw Christian

Check back here late tonight for all the scores .....

GIRLS VOLLEYBALL

Elk Grove defeated Franklin Thursday night in 3 out of 4 games;   25-16, 25-12, 20-25, 25-13. Heilani Hoeft and Katie Haley each had 5 kills for Franklin.

BOYS SOCCER

Jesuit 8, Sheldon 0
Vista del Lago 1, Cosumnes Oaks 1
Davis 3, Monterey Trail 1
Pleasant Grove 2, Oak Ridge 2

Tuesday's Scoreboard

BOYS' SOCCER

Elk Grove 5, Franklin 2
Grant 4, Monterey Trail 2
Folsom 1, Sheldon 1

GIRLS' GOLF

Delta River League Tournament at Empire Ranch

Team results: St. Francis 389, Pleasant Grove 392, Oak Ridge 476, Ponderosa 479, Folsom 627.

Individual results: Laskin, SF, 75; Vardanega, SF, 75; Mallicoat 76, PG; Bednekoff, PG, 76; MacDonald, SF, 77.

GIRLS' TENNIS

ST. FRANCIS 7, PLEASANT GROVE 2

#1 singles–Josiah, SF, def. Kilgrow, PG, 6-3, 6-2. #1 doubles–Elliott/Holland, SF, def. Adetogun/Le, PG, 6-4, 7-5.

ELK GROVE 6, FRANKLIN 3 #1 singles–Quin, F, def. Stone, EG, 6-1, 7-6. #1 doubles–Anastasio/Limb, EG, def. He/ Wong, F, 7-6, 6-3.

Wednesday's Notebook/Mid-way Through Football Season

Pleasant Grove's Joe Cattolico. Will his Eagles be atop the
DRL come the first weekend of November?

The first six weeks (including a “zero” week) of football have come and gone with only a few surprises. Most of us thought Franklin, Elk Grove and Cosumnes Oaks would be at 5-0 or 4-1 at this point. It’s a bit surprising Pleasant Grove stands at 3-2, but the Eagles have had quite a few injuries and their depth at most positions is questionable. 

Monterey Trail is at 4-1. And, they are in the drivers’ seat for a playoff spot if they can win just two more games. Six wins are about all a team would need to reach the post-season. And, who thought Ponderosa would be 4-1 at this point of the year?

Around the Sac-Joaquin Section the disappointments have to be (in no particular order) Del Oro (1-4), Grant (2-3), Vacaville (2-3), Granite Bay (2-3), and Lincoln of Stockton (2-3). All of those clubs stand a realistic chance of missing the post-season. Granite Bay, Vacaville and Del Oro are defending Section champions in their division.

Most experts now think Oak Ridge will win the Delta River League championship, but Folsom is also 5-0 and scoring points in rapid fashion. Ponderosa and Jesuit are much better this season and Pleasant Grove looks like they’ll be somewhere in the middle. It could be that five of the six teams will make the post-season.

Remember that in order to reach the playoffs a team must win two league games. Don’t be surprised if there’s two or three-way tie for the DRL championship at 3-2 in league action.

It’s very likely that Sheldon, now 3-2, may not win again this season.  .....

A Wierd 2-Pt. Conversion

I had heard about this and find it one of the strangest PAT plays I've ever seen.


After leading the Oakmont Vikings to an end of regulation TD, Taylor Laird(also the holder) connects with Namani Parker on a behind-the-back, over-the-head pass on a 2-point conversion. Oakmont defeated Lincoln, 44-43.