Folsom Football

The two state bowl games that featured SJS teams were both excellent to watch. St. Mary's could have won their game vs. Cathedral, but just struggled a little too much on defense. I really liked watching Vaz throw the ball. He showed tremendous poise and was very accurate. I can see why he and David Graves were two of the top passers in the section.

Grant is the team that really stepped-up though. They beat the state #1 ranked team, Long Beach Poly and beat them convincingly. Although the score was close, it was only close because of a few plays - a long pass, a long run and a blocked punt. Grant's defense was the real story in my mind. They just had too many athletes and put too much pressure on Poly. Even though Grant stayed in the 3-5 and played man-to-man defense the entire game, Poly could not take advantage. Grants' speed, their shedding of blocks and their pursuit to the ball are the hallmarks of a great defensive team. Grant's ability to run the ball in the second half allowed them to really control the game.

The win benefits more than Grant. The win, along with St. Mary's showing, really lifted the entire SJS. Outside of the bay area, there has long been a perception that SJS (and NS) football is inferior. It will be much easier to choose teams for future SBG's given the performances. For that, everyone in the SJS owes the Grant team a little thank you.

Fans of De La Salle feel slighted that their team was not selected to play in the open game. There has also been a lot of talk that Centennial should be the #1 ranked team in the state given Long Beach Poly's loss to Grant. I say Grant is #1 and they earned the right to be called California State Champion based on their play on the field. The Open game pitted the two best teams in the state head-to-head. And Grant won. Case closed.

The KCRA Holiday Classic is going to be held on Saturday December 27, 2008 at 1:00 PM at Grant High School. Three local players have been selected to play in the game, David Graves and Andrew Benavides from Folsom and Kyle Gohagan from Oak Ridge.

This is the third annual version of the game. The first two were somewhat entertaining as there some very good players have participated. However, the south team has been blown-out the first two years as the north was clearly superior.

For the third year in a row, the coaches for the game will be Grant's Mike Alberghini and Del Oro's Casey Taylor (Coach Max Miller participated in the first two, but was not replaced after he retired). This is a very nice perk for Grant for two reasons.

First, with the game being played at Grant, they get to keep the snack bar revenue from the game, which can be a very significant sum. Calls to move the game to another venue that might be more accessible to south fans and suburban north fans have been resisted by the out-of-area game organizer.

Second, the murky selection criteria and process continues to favor Grant athletes. This year, seven players from the Grant squad have been included on the initial roster. The schools with the next most players on the roster include Burbank (from the Metro with Grant), Granite Bay (from the SFL with Del Oro), Inderkum (a school near Grant), and Laguna Creek. Six schools have 2 players on the roster, including Folsom.

To be fair, the 2007 roster had (4) players each from Del Oro and Grant, while several other schools had (3) players including Del Campo and Inderkum. Naming your own players to the roster is one of the perks of coaching an all star game, so the practice is understandable. The seven players may seem excessive, but consider that Grant was also selected to play in the Open game of the State Bowl Game. Having seen Grant play, they do have some phenominal athletes.

You may have noticed from my tone that I have some minor issues with the Holiday All Star Classic. It has nothing to do with the players.
- The Optimist Game (held during the summer) benefits Camp Ross Relles, a terrific charity. The finances and benefactor of the All Star Classic are unknown. We do know that the game is organized by an Idaho-based promoter (the same who brought 4 SJS teams to Idaho for games this fall).
- In my opinion, the Optimist Game should be held during the winter and not the summer for a bunch of reasons (player availability and conditioning among them). The Optimist Game has a deep and rich history in the area. If the Optimists moved their game to the winter, the All Star Classic would likely fold.
- Ryan Rau, clearly one of the best defensive players in the section last year, was inexplicably denied a roster position. While other players who made the roster certainly deserved to be included, Ryan's exclusion and the explanation offered were . . . not comprehensible. Yes, this may seem petty, but two other linebackers were added to the roster during the practice week. It certainly made me wonder about the selection process. As one of Ryan's coaches, I am certainly biased . . .
- The All Star classic coaching position is not rotated among area coaches as is the normal practice with Optimist coaches. The game has been exclusive property of Grant and Del Oro coaches for the third year in a row. This could possibly lead to roster imbalance.

So now that I have finished my whining about the organization of the game, let me encourage you to go the game. David Graves, Andrew Benavides and Kyle Gohagan are all excellent players who deserve support. Also, there will be plenty of talent on both teams that will be worth watching.