Grant, De La Salle, Acalanes put on clinics — NorCal Friday roundup

The Pacers, Spartans and Dons combine to outscore foes 131-28 to advance to the CIF state finals; Soquel, Pleasant Valley, St. Vincent and Ferndale also prevail

The perfect storm hit for at least three football that qualified for the state finals with resounding CIF Northern California Regional Bowl victories on Friday night. 

Grant Union, Acalanes and De La Salle all won by decisive scores in games that figured to be close. Check out the entire roundup of seven games below: 

Division 1-AA

De La Salle 41, Clovis North 0

The Spartans played a perfect first-half, racing to a 33-0 lead and holding a 16-1 edge in first downs. They controlled the ball, the clock and held down the Central Section's Division 1 champion scoreless. Derrick Blanche Jr. rushed 19 times for 146 yards and two touchdowns, quarterback Toa Faavae accounted for three touchdowns, leading the Spartans (11-2) to their 11th straight win and 16th state-title appearance in 17 years since the bowl game era started in 2006. GAME STORY

Southern California 1-AA score: Mission Viejo 49, Granite Hills 21

Division 2-AA 

Grant Union-Sacramento 41, Rocklin 14 

The Pacers shook off a slow start that included four penalties on their first drive, turned loose their three Division I scholarship players and rolled the Thunder to return to another CIF state final.

Washington State-bound senior running back Wayshawn Parker rushed for 151 yards and had fourth-quarter touchdowns of 1 and 28 yards. UNLV-bound senior back Devin Green rushed for 117 yards and had TDs of 2 and 61 yards, the second of which broke Rocklin's back for a 34-14 lead with 7:56 left to play.

And Oregon-bound receiver/safety Kingston Lopa returned an interception 35 yards for a score to make it 13-7, and he caught a 14-yard touchdown from Luke Alexander to make it 20-7 with 5:52 left in the third as Grant now sets aim to win its third state crown in as many attempts.

Grant in 2008 won the first CIF State Open Division championship, and last season, the Pacers won the 3-AA crowd. Grant (12-2) will play La Serna-Whittier at Saddleback College. Rocklin finished 12-2.

Southern California 2-AA score: La Serna 49, Orange Vista 32

Pregame: Rare to have two teams from same section face off, rekindling the last meeting between the Sac-Joaquin Section powerhouses almost 14 years to the day. According to Joe Davidson of the Sacramento Bee, it was a section D2 semifinal game at Folsom and Rocklin prevailed 21-19 with a stirring goal-line stand. That game featured four future NFL players, including current linebacker Shaq Thompson (Grant). These teams are led by young quarterbacks, Rocklin sophomore Reeve Slone (2,273 passing yards, 21 TDs, 374 rushing yards, seven scores) and Grant junior Luke Alexander (2,863 passing yards, 41 TDs). Each have effective running games: Grant's Wayshawn Parker (1,732 yards, 21 TDs) and Rocklin's Derek Keeley (1,024, 19).

Division 3-AA

Acalanes 49, Escalon 14

They aren't just big, they're fast also.

The Dons of Acalanes from Lafayette, met small school power Escalon, with a hefty resume and a ton of pride.

But Acalanes, coming offf its first North Coast Section championship, used the speed of such track stars Paul Kuhner and Cal-bound Trevor Rogers to post a decisive 49-14 home win over Escalon in the CIF Division 3-AA Northern California championship Friday. 

Rogers and Kuhner were part of Acalanes' CIF State second-place 4x100 relay team that finished in blazing 40.96 seconds. They and the rest of the Dons showed off that speed and more with a thorough victory over the Cougars (12-2).

Accordding to Joseph Dykus of the Mercury News, quarterback Sully Bailey accounted for nearly 250 yards and four touchdowns , Jack Miller rushed for nearly 100 yards and a touchdown and the defensive supplied two pick-6s.Escalon showed off its ball-control offense and controlled the clock but Acalanes, which opened the season 0-3, had just too man big plays. 

The Dons (10-4) meet Birmingham-Lake Balboa for the state title Dec. 8 at a site that will be announced Sunday. 

Paul Kuhner, Acalanes / Photo: Eric Taylor

Southern California 3-AA score: Birmingham 30, Del Norte 28

Pregame: The host Dons, led by track stars Trevor Rogers (Cal commit) and Paul Kuhner must slow the potent Wing-T attack of Escalon (418 yards per game), the defending state 4-AA champs. Under 76-year-old head coach Floyd Burnsed, in his 40th year coaching, Acalanes didn't panic after an 0-3 start and have won nine of 10 behind, the one loss a disheartening 25-24 home game to Campolindo which would have given the Dons an outright league title. Instead they had to share it. Instead of melting, Floyd kept them on track with three section wins, including a 24-7 win over two-time defending state champion San Marin, which beat them to start the season. Kuhner returned the opening kickoff 97 yards and the Dons never looked back en route to winning their first section title. They'll be facing a team under coach Andrew Beam that has gone gone 60-10 since 2018. The 2023 squad is led by senior quarterback Donovan Rozevink (1,982 passing yards, 35 touchdowns), senior running back Joshua Graham (1,432 yards, 15 TDs) and junior receiver Sam Jimenez (67 catches, 982 yards, 18 TDs).

Division 4-AA

Soquel 42, Casa Roble 14

After Casa Roble (12-2) closed to 21-14 early in the third quarter, the host Knights (12-2) scored three unanswered touchdowns keyed by long runs from Justice Grauel Tebong (64 yards) and Braylan Noble (44) to score the win. Grauel Tebon also had TD runs of 12 and 6 yards, Tyreis Lundy added a 14-yard TD run and Sam Whelen completed an 18-yard scoring pass to Jordan McCord for Soquel, which won its first Central Coast Section title following back-to-back wins over Monterey (22-0) in the semifinals and Christopher (28-0) in the finals. Casa Roble got a touchdown pass and run from Connor Campbell. 

Southern California 4-AA score: Jurupa Hills 41, Torres 14

Pregame: It's gonna be a long haul for Casa Roble (175 miles) any day, but Friday traffic is often a bear. But with Connor "Freaking" Campbell at QB, the Rams should be able to navigate any troubles. He's thrown for 3,338 yards and 32 touchdowns. Linebacker Evan Combs averages an absurd 16 tackles per game. Soquel won its first Central Coast Section title and is riding an eight game win streak, finsihed off with back-to-back shutouts of Monterey (22-0) and Christopher (28-0).

Division 5-AA

Pleasant Valley-Chico 31, Miramonte-Orinda 12

Lucas Benson rushed 20 times for 133 yards and three touchdowns and added an interception on defense, lifting the Vikings (10-3)  to the home win. Pleasant Valley, the alma mater of Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers, had eight sacks, 4.5 by Gavin Garretson and 2.5 by Daniel Barriga. Miramonte, which got two touchdown passes from Carson Blair, finished 9-4. 

Southern California 5-AA score: Ramona 21, Torrance 16

Pregame: One of the Bay Area’s best and most under-rated coaches Jack Schram led the visiting Matadors to their first section title in 10 years with a 42-20 win over St. Bernard’s-Eureka has the Matadors. It’s a long haul and big challenge trekking to Chico and the alma mater of Aaron Rodgers.

Division 6-AA

St. Vincent de Paul-Petaluma 28, Palo Alto 26

Senior quarterback Gabe Casanovas threw for 69 yards and rushed for 106 and two scores and Mason Caturegli added 14 carries for 103 yards and another score as St. Vincent recorded the back-and-forth win at Casa Grande High School. Jack Davis also rushed for a TD for the Mustangs, who total 252 rushing yards. Palo Alto (8-6), which played without starting quarterback Declan Parker (neck injury), got a TD pass from freshman QB Justin Fung to Jason Auzenne with less than two minutes to play. The Vikings converted a 2-point play but it was waved off with an illegal shift. Jake Wang had a 40-yard TD run for Palo Alto. 

Southern California 6-AA score: Wasco 7, Cerritos 6

Pregame:  St. Vincent, a private school of about 250 students, has been rolling since hiring former Casa Grande coach Trent Herzog in 2018 with a 40-12-1 record. The Mustangs, led by sophomore QB Gabe Casanovas (3,191 total yards, 44 TDs), should be hungry after losing last year’s NorCal regional to Clear Lake, 56-55. Palo Alto, with an enrollment of about 2,000 students, has benefitted from the competitive equity model. The Vikings have won five straight, including 34-33 over Mountain View for the Central Coast Section D4 title. The Vikings won the state Division 1 title in 2010 over Corona Centennial helped by the receiving prowess of current NFL star Davante Adams.

Division 7-AA 

Ferndale 32, Portola 7

A competitive game at halftime, Isaak Kasso returned the second half kickoff 65 yards and Trent Titus rushed home on a 4-yard touchdown and Ferndale (10-4) was on its way to its first regional win. At Cal Poly Humboldt, the Wildcats scored 20 unanswered points in the second half. After a Portola turnover, Tanner Pidgeon completed a 24-yard touchdown to Kasso and Ferndale was on its way. More information at Times Standard. Ferndale will play Fairfax, which received a bye, for the state title. Portola finished 12-1. 

Pregame: It's supposed to be raining all day in the area, but it shouldn't effect Portola which run for 3,419 yards this season (only 825 passing), led by junior Magnus Berk (1,601 rushing yards, 28 TDs) and Cody Wilmer (1,208, 13). Ferndale, only 27 miles from Humboldt, has won four straight and recorded four shutouts on the season.