By Kevin Askeland
MaxPreps.com
FOLSOM - Although his Pacers won in convincing fashion over the Burbank Titans, 55-6, in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division 2 championship game Friday night, Grant coach Mike Alberghini said the lopsided score wasn’t intended to send a statement to the CIF.
“I don’t care if the score was only 13-12, this team deserves to go to the championship,” Alberghini said. “If we don’t get chosen, then I guess I just give up on the idea that working hard will get you what you want.”
Alberghini and the Pacers certainly didn’t make it easy on the CIF commissioners, who will have to choose between Grant, Bellarmine Prep (which defeated Valley Christian for the Central Coast Section Open Division title) and the winners of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division 1 and North Coast Section Division 1 championships next week in order to find a representative for the Division 1 (and Open Division) games at the CIF state finals set for Dec. 19 and 20. Grant, however, certainly has the credentials.
The Pacers, 13-0, are the only undefeated team left among Division 1 schools in Northern California and their 626 points scored is easily the best total among the surviving teams, although that is not a criterion for selection.
Grant can also point to wins over a pair of state champions. The Pacers edged Alta of Sandy, Utah, 35-28 in the preseason. Alta went on to win the large school classification with a 21-17 win over Bingham. Meanwhile the Pacers also whipped Highland of Pocatello, Idaho, 34-21. Highland also captured the large school classification in its home state with a 28-7 win over Eagle.
Grant may also be a sentimental favorite after, perhaps, being overlooked in 2006 when it went 13-0 with a similarly explosive team that won a Sac-Joaquin Section Division 2 championship. De La Salle was chosen to represent NorCal that year, but the Open Division did not exist then.
“We felt we should have gone in 2006,” Alberghini said with a shrug of his shoulders. “We put it to our kids this week. Could they muster up enough to play better against a team they had already beaten, and we did that tonight.”
Grant defeated Burbank during Metro League play 35-13.
The decisive win Friday over Burbank (9-4) was like a wave of momentum that started out small and continued to build until it finally broke and crashed down on the Titans by the end of the third quarter.
By then, Grant held a 55-0 lead, limited Burbank to just 52 yards of total offense and scored 20 points over the course of the final two minutes of the third period to put an exclamation point on an already impressive performance.
Leading 35-0 at halftime, Grant scored on a 1-yard run by DeVontae Butler. The touchdown was the second of the game for the junior running back, who only seemed to get stronger as the game progressed. After rushing for 99 yards in the first half, Butler added 110 yards in the third quarter and finished the game with 209 yards on 22 carries.
On the scoring drive, Butler also had runs of 37 and 32 yards to set up the score with 4:02 left in the period.
Less than a minute later, the Pacers were in the end zone again when Marvin Lamb picked up a Burbank fumble and raced 30 yards for a score and a 48-0 advantage. The fumble was one of six turnovers in the game for Burbank.
On the third play after the touchdown, the Pacers grabbed the final turnover of the game when Dejon Jackson picked off a halfback pass at the 38 yard line. On the next play, Butler ran the distance for the score. The touchdown was the third of the game and the 36th of the season for Butler.
While the turnovers certainly plagued the Titans throughout the game, Grant’s stifling defense also played a huge role in making it impossible for Burbank to gather any momentum. The Titans punted six times and had just three first downs until their final possession of the game, which produced their only score. Miles Freeman scored the touchdown on an 11-yard run with 2:41 left in the game.
Grant opened the scoring midway through the first quarter. After turning the ball over on downs at the Burbank 2 yard line, the Pacers got the ball back on Lamb’s interception of a Freeman pass at the 17. Grant scored two plays later when Howard Warren threw a halfback pass to Xavier Amey in the end zone.
Another interception at the start of the second quarter led to Grant’s second score. Kevin Rich picked off the pass near the goal line and returned it to the 14. On second down, quarterback Kipeli Koniseti threw to Darvin McCauley on the sideline. The senior receiver sidestepped a defender and raced 49 yards to the Burbank 37. Four plays later, including three runs by Butler, the Pacers scored with Butler going 12 yards for the touchdown.
The Pacer defense forced a punt and Grant quickly went 71 yards for the third touchdown of the game. Alberghini called a hook-and-lateral play on first down with Koniseti throwing to McCauley, who then pitched to Warren for a 20-yard gain. Koniseti added a 17-yard pass to Warren and Butler motored 23 yards to set up Koniseti’s 5-yard scoring run.
Grant scored two more times before halftime. The first drive took just one play thanks to two big plays by McCauley. First the Pacer receiver returned a punt 20 yards to midfield. Then he got separation from the defender on first down and Koniseti found him for a 55-yard scoring strike.
The second score came following a 57-yard interception return by Warren down to the Burbank 10 yard line. Koniseti scored on second down, following a penalty, rushing in from 11 yards out.
Koniseti completed 5 of 10 passes on the night for 150 yards and one touchdown.
