High School

Ryder Lyons offered by USC's Lincoln Riley; 2026 QB puts on show in Northern California football championship

With Riley in attendance, the 2026 standout impresses the USC coach enough to secure an offer

Mitch Stephens, SBLive Sports

FOLSOM, CALIFORNIA — Have yourself a night Ryder Lyons. 

First, the strapping 6-foot-2, 205-pound sophomore quarterback lifted his Folsom Bulldogs to a state-championship berth with a 28-25 CIF Northern California Division 1-A championship home win over Pittsburg. 

He did that by rushing 26 times for 134 yards and three scores and completing 11 of 14 for 190 yards and another score. 

Folsom edges Pittsburg 28-25 in CIF Northern California D1-A championship

Lyons, the younger brother of USC tight end Walker Lyons, willed his team to a fifth regional title with USC head coach Lincoln Riley attending the game. 

Afterward, the final horn, Lyons sprinted faster than he did all night to the Folsom cheering section to celebrate the win, then held court with about a dozen media members on the field, answering each question politely and humbly. 

To finish off his night, he tweeted that in fact Riley had offered him a scholarship.

For the season hes rushed for nearly 850 yards and 22 touchdowns and passed for 3,430 yards and 37 more scores. 

On Saturday, Riley must have been thinking that Lyons did a pretty good imitation of his current quarterback Caleb Williams, who will almost assuredly declare for the NFL draft. 

Lyons has two more years of high school, which is hard to imagine the way he's dominating it currently as a 10th grader. 

Lincoln Riley no doubt liked what he say of Ryder Lyons on Saturday night in Folsom.
Lincoln Riley no doubt liked what he say of Ryder Lyons on Saturday night in Folsom / Photo: Dennis Lee
Ryder Lyons (3) celebrating one of his three rushing touchdowns on Saturday
Ryder Lyons (3) celebrating one of his three rushing touchdowns on Saturday / Photo: Dennis Lee
Ryder Lyons (3) only threw 14 passes Saturday, but completed 10 for 190 yards and a score.  / Photo: Dennis Lee
Photo: Dennis Lee
Photo: Dennis Lee
Dennis Lee
Photo: Dennis Lee
Photo: Dennis Lee
Published
Mitch Stephens, SBLive Sports
MITCH STEPHENS, SBLIVE SPORTS

Mitch Stephens is a senior editor at SBLive Sports for California, a state he's covered high school sports since 1984. He won multiple CNPA and CPSWA writing awards with the Contra Costa Times, San Francisco Chronicle and MaxPreps.com before joining the SBLive staff in 2022. He's covered the beat nationally since 2007, profiling such athletes as Derrick Henry, Paige Bueckers, Patrick Mahomes, Sabrina Ionescu, Jayson Tatum, Chiney Ogwumike, Jeremy Lin and Najee Harris as preps. You can reach him at mitch@scorebooklive.com.

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