Nevada Union freshman quarterback Josiah Paye was a threat both passing and running for the Miners who finished 9-0 and won the Delta Valley Conference crown. See story below.
Del Oro, NU Both Cap Unbeaten Seasons
It would be the game that most sportswriters would toss their CIF press passes away and pay regular admission prices to see.
It’s a game where two highly touted freshman football teams could decide foothill area supremacy.
In a season where the frosh level of football was on an “up” cycle, there was no doubt that Del Oro and Nevada Union’s respective freshman football squads were at the top of the heap.
And, when all the votes were tallied, the Golden Eagles from Loomis had enough staying power from their season ending 35-0 win over a two-loss Oakmont team last week to finish the season has foothillpreps.com’s No. 1 ranked school.
The Golden Eagles finished the season with an scintillating 10-0 record in which they outscored opposition by a 359-22 margin.
Among the team’s big wins were a 22-7 victory over Granite Bay, a 44-0 romp over Merced and a convincing 40-0 throttling of Elk Grove.
And while the Golden Eagles were indeed impressive, Nevada Union’s Miners put up their best argument to try and overtake the Loomis gridders in the last poll.
Buoyed by their 48-13 drilling of Davis last Thursday, NU finished at 9-0 and scored 398 points to the opposition’s 88.
The Miners played one less game because Valley, a member of the Delta Valley Conference, didn’t field a freshman football team.
Again, Del Oro’s claim to the top spot comes via its 30-3 romp over a Roseville team which defeated Franklin of Elk Grove, a team that took the NU frosh down to the wire before falling, 8-6.
Foothillpreps.com received many calls and e-mails wanting to know if these two outstanding teams could play in a benefit game to decided once and for all freshman supremacy in the foothills.
We’d love to see it but CIF rules dictate otherwise.
Also, the No. 3 and No. 4 teams in the final frosh poll shouldn’t be overlooked.
Colfax’s Falcons went 7-2 and finished second in the Pioneer Valley League with losses coming to 10-0 teams Del Oro and Whitney.
Meanwhile, No, 3 Bear River went 8-2 and lost only to Colfax and Whitney, with both combined losses coming by seven points and in the final minute of each contest.
Frosh Big Little Five
1. Del Oro (10-0) - The Golden Eagles had it all - size, speed and depth – and it showed in their undefeated season. Quarterback Bobby Heatherington ran the offense splendidly with backs Nick O’Sullivan, Tanner Huber, Jake Jackson and Kyle Anderson all having super seasons. Del Oro “D” was downright nasty.
2. Nevada Union (9-0) - NU-Del Oro collision on neutral field would be a match up you wouldn’t want to miss. Stay tuned, it could happen a few years down the road when league realignment comes up. Miners had a ton of weapons in run-pass threat QB Josiah Paye, hard running Brad Spangler and Gabe Humpers and defensive standouts Conner Fuller, Conner Keith and Cyle Bush.
3. Colfax (7-2) – An over-achieving season for the Falcons who weren’t big in size or numbers. Two-way standout Hunter Owens rushed for over 1,000 yards and 6 foot- 3 inch quarterback Austin Young completed over 60 per cent of his passes. Defensive standouts included Nolan Karbowski, Rogger Lillie, Austin Pachaud and Sam Quinlan.
4. Bear River (8-2) – The Bruins were just two plays away from going 10-0. Look for this group of Bear River players to continue to be right in the title mix of the PVL for the rest of their prep careers.
5. Placer (4-6) – The Hillmen have size and with a little fine tuning can’t be counted out down the road. Placer was keyed by Alan Goodwin, Casey Sabins, Johnny Foley and D.J. Rodriguez.