Eagles open SFL play with 28-10 win over Grizzlies in Hometown Honor Bowl

LOOMIS– The pomp and circumstance of playing for heroes past and present wasn't lost on the Del Oro and Granite Bay football teams Friday night. On a night where an overflow crowd filled Golden Eagle Stadium to honor current and past members of the military, armed forces veterans, fallen heroes and area first responders, the Golden Eagles and Grizzlies rolled up their sleeves and slugged it out for four quarters. "I'm very proud of the kids," said Del Oro coach Jeff Walters after his Golden Eagles (4-1, 1-0) started slow but picked up steam on their way to earning a hard-fought 28-10 Sierra Foothill League-opening conquest of the rival Grizzlies. Del Oro, on the strength of two touchdowns in a 15-second span in the second quarter, built a 14-3 halftime lead and then basically turned the game over to senior running back Sheldon Conde in the second half. Conde, the SFL's leading rusher last season, used his experience and savvy to wilt Granite Bay's defense over the last two quarters. When the game's final gun sounded, Conde had racked up 155 tough yards on 39 carries and scored three touchdowns. "Sheldon got the tough yards tonight and the offensive line was super," said Walters, talking about the up-front work of David Veske, Brian West, Tucker Black, Carson Evans and Jared Hill. "They've been doing a great job all season." Conde's touchdown tallies came on efforts of 1, 2 and 5 yards. In the third quarter, leading 14-3, Conde carried the ball 12 times in a clock-eating, 17-play, 71-yard march that culminated with his 2-yard scoring plunge that upped the score to 21-3 at the 1:33 mark of the third. Eight runs by Conde that picked up three first downs and a 20-yard pass from Kal Lunders to Dylan Shannon for another first down helped key the pivotal drive. Lunders, who managed the Golden Eagles' offense well from his quarterback post, also delivered the night's big defensive play. One snap following Conde's 1-yard scoring run that gave Del Oro a 7-3 lead at the 5:45 mark of the second stanza, Lunders intercepted Granite Bay's Dillon Hamilton and returned the pass 15 yards for the score that allowed the Black and Gold to go into the locker room with a comfortable 21-3 lead. "I thought the interception by Kal was very big for us, but he also played well at quarterback too," said Walters. "It was a very good team win tonight." Granite Bay found the going rough on the ground most of the night as Del Oro's defense, led by West, Hill, Veske and Drew Walling, helped limit the Grizzlies to just 65 net rushing yards on 20 attempts. Hamilton, following a long pass to Christian Perry, scored Granite Bay's lone touchdown on a 2-yard, mid-fourth quarter run. After a scoreless first quarter, a Granite Bay drive stalled but Justin Sampson was good on a 43-yard field goal that gave the Grizzlies a 3-0 lead early in the second quarter. For Granite Bay (2-3, 0-1 SFL), Kai Singleton, Connor Sloan and Bo Hannum all played well. Coach Jeff Evans' Grizzlies will try and rebound next Friday at Grant. "We really couldn't get anything going on both sides of the ball and Del Oro had a lot to do with it," said a disappointed Evans. "They took the fight to us with their tempo and basically kicked our fannies. They deserved to win the game." In the JV game, Granite Bay improved to 5-0 on the season by handing Del Oro its first loss of the year, 34-21. Del Oro plays at Whitney next Friday.