As comparing lopsided scores goes, Folsom’s 63-0 win on Friday over Granite Bay in a matchup of recent CIF state champions actually wasn’t that bad.
Although the margin was more pronounced for the Bulldogs’ 49-13 triumph over Clovis North of Fresno (one of the top-ranked teams in the CIF Central Section) or their 56-6 win over Pleasant Grove of Elk Grove, at least Granite Bay can take some solace in that it was “just” 28-0 at halftime.
In those other games, record-breaking Folsom quarterback Jake Browning didn’t play after halftime because the leads already were 49-6 and 56-0.
Jake Browning, who announced earlier this week he would be enrolling at the University of Washington in January, threw for 345 yards and five TDs in his outing this week.
And while the Grizzlies clearly aren’t at the level of that team, this Folsom team has a chance to be the school’s best ever and one of the best in CIF Sac-Joaquin Section history.
“We haven’t thought about any of that stuff yet,” Browning said while walking to the locker room after being asked whether the team was disappointed there was not going to be a CIF Northern California Open Division bowl game this season. “We haven’t even played Del Oro and we haven’t made the playoffs yet.”
Browning didn’t have one of his monster outings from a passing standpoint, but was just as effective running the offense aganst a Granite Bay defense that is led by USC-bound linebacker Cameron Smith.
For the game, using unofficial stats, he completed 17 of 22 passes for 345 yards and five touchdowns.
On Folsom’s first series, Browning only threw three passes but the Bulldogs still marched down the field with the touchdown coming on a 3-yard run by senior fullback Bailey Laolagi.
The Grizzlies never came close to scoring, but they did take a lot of time off the clock in the first half and weren’t blown out early because they also recovered a fumble.
Folsom erased any doubt in the last two minutes of the first half, jumping the lead to 28-0 on a 14-yard TD pass from Browning to Jake Morgado.
It was one of five TD passes that Browning threw with the other four all going to senior Josiah Deguara.
In the team’s first four games, Deguara took a backseat to teammate Cole Thompson as Folsom’s headline receiver. Against Granite Bay, however, Deguara turned in the two top plays of the night – a one-handed grab in traffic and a jump ball in which he beat two defenders – and finished with eight catches for 204 yards.
Granite Bay got the ball to start the second half but a ferocious hit by senior Sam Whitney caused a fumble in which Folsom recovered. The Bulldogs then scored on a 35-yard pass from Browning to Deguara and the rout was on.
Three other running backs besides Laolagi also rushed for touchdowns as Folsom offensive coordinator and co-head coach Troy Taylor called a more balanced game than the first four. Tre Green had a 10-yard TD just before the end of the third quarter, Bryan Weldy did the same after the next series and Roger Neal added the final score on a 9-yard run.
Folsom, which won the 2010 CIF Division II state bowl game with a victory against Serra of Gardena, improved to 5-0 and will play Del Oro of Loomis next week.
2 Comments
Folsom is putting up De La Salle like numbers. I wonder if they might have given them a better game this year? Wonder if the new format is one year too late? Looks like a big year for the north, after DLS wins the Open and Folsom romps in the Division I game.
Joe Davidson from SacBee and a survey he ran last year, panned the idea that Folsom should get a Open Division bye, to be able to play Division I championship. After 2 consecutive games with near identical results, there is no question that DeLaSalle is the better team. They put the heat on Browning and controlled the line of scrimmage. Folsom does not yet have the skill set on the line to be able to be competitive with DeLaSalle. The new format is best for both teams. Browning will compete with the #1 Bishop Gorman QB at UW for the same job, so we will get to see how well Jake is able to play at the college level with similar line strength next year. The St John Boscoe QB will be at UCLA so this will be a rematch for QB’s in Pac-12.