Tigers take down Fighting Zebras in offensive shootout

Roseville High football senior Brandon Graydon proved why he is one of the best dual-threat quarterbacks in the Sac-Joaquin Section as he totaled five touchdowns for the Tigers in a 40-37 victory over Lincoln High on Thursday night. "I feel like we have been able to push past the little things and for the most part, we had everything dialed in," Graydon said. Graydon entered Thursday coming off of a rough game against Laguna Creek where he only totaled 127 yards of offense and four turnovers. "Brandon is a stud," Tigers coach Adam Reinking said. "He's a great leader not just on the field but he leads by example. He executes our offense really well and makes me look a lot smarter than I am." The win didn't come easy as the Zebras kept it close all night and led at multiple points. Lincoln High started the game with an Alex Barros interception that resulted in a three-yard touchdown by Ryan Henning. The Zebras put more points on the board later in the first quarter with a 38-yard field goal by Zac Giles making it 9-0. Roseville High answered back to start the second quarter as Graydon connected with Nick Macaluso for a 26-yard touchdown making the score 9-8 after a successful two-point conversion. The Fighting Zebras extended their lead once again with another rushing touchdown by Henning, who finished with four touchdowns on the night. "I think I started clicking with the offensive line and I'm glad we were able to run the ball," Henning said. "I definitely feel like as the season goes on, we will get better and better running the ball." Roseville High tied the game 16-16 after Graydon sneaked it into the end zone from a yard out and converted another two-point conversion. With 27 seconds left in the first half, the Zebras tried a double pass where quarterback Thomas Mukai passed it to Brock Gaeler, who threw it downfield, however, the pass was intercepted. The Tigers took advantage as Graydon connected with Liam Crow and set up a 24-yard field goal to end the first half. The offensive barrage continued in the second half as neither team was able to get a stop until midway through the fourth quarter. Lincoln High began the third quarter with a 25-yard touchdown connection between Mukai and Hayden Dotson. Graydon followed that up for the Tigers with a 53-yard run and a five-yard touchdown connection to Aaron Salas. Henning then went for his third touchdown of the night making the score 30-26 heading into the final 12 minutes of action. "There were spurts of things that looked really good both running and passing the ball, which is something that we have been waiting for," Zebras coach Allen Berg said. On the next Lincoln drive with four minutes remaining, the Zebras were at their own 28-yard-line on fourth and two and tried a fake punt, but were stopped a half yard short of a first down. Graydon put the game to bed with a 22-yard touchdown run. "They had scored on their last five possessions, so we knew if we punted it that we probably weren't going to get the ball back," Berg said. This win moves the Tigers to 2-2 on the season and gives them momentum heading into Capital Valley Conference action. They will play their first league game next Thursday away at Antelope. "It was a complete team win," Reinking said. "We have a really good team who pull for each other. I was super proud of how our guys held it together and got a really good win against a really good Lincoln team." For Lincoln, they now drop to 2-2 and have lost their last two games. The Fighting Zebras will finish non-league action next week at Woodcreek, another Capital Valley Conference team, before going on their bye week. "We need better gap control and penetration," Berg said. "We have to get more pressure on the quarterback. It's very frustrating. There are spurts of things that look OK but this group is tough to get things going with them in a consistent manner." Lincoln&emsp;&emsp;9&emsp;&emsp;7&emsp;&emsp;14&emsp;&emsp;7 Roseville&emsp;0&emsp;&emsp;19&emsp; 7&emsp;&emsp;14 Lincoln - Ryan Henning 3 run (Zac Giles miss) Lincoln - Giles 38-yard field goal Roseville - Nick Macaluso 26 pass from Brandon Graydon (2-pt successful) Lincoln - Henning 1 run (Giles kick) Roseville - Graydon 1 run (2-pt successful) Roseville - Joel Bradley 24-yard field goal Lincoln - Hayden Dotson 25 pass from Thomas Mukai (Giles kick) Roseville - Aaron Salas 5 pass from Graydon (Bradley kick) Lincoln - Henning 15 run (Giles kick) Roseville - Graydon 8 run (Bradley kick) Roseville - Graydon 22 run (Bradley kick) Lincoln - Henning 5 run (Giles kick)