Roseville holds on for win over Hughson

After years of trying to make it to the semifinals of the Sac-Joaquin Section football playoffs, the Roseville Tigers have made the finals. The Tigers punched their ticket to the Division IV championship game Friday night following a 23-15 win over Hughson. "Obviously, I'm really proud of this team," Roseville coach Adam Reinking said. "I think this is the first time since 1987 that we've reach the championship game. This team has accomplished something historically significant. " Roseville was in control of the game the entire way until Hughson scored a touchdown and the ensuing two-point conversion with 1:44 to play, making it a one-possession game, 23-15. The Huskies then recovered the onside kick and had 48 yards to go in 1:40 with a chance to tie the game. On third down from the 27-yard line, Hughson quarterback Hudson Baldwin momentarily completed a pass to Titus Beers at the one-yard line, but Roseville's Justin Fischer tore it away from him and landed in the end zone for the interception, his eighth of the season, which sealed Roseville's victory. "Justin saved the game for us," Reinking said. "Our defense was awesome all game. Dylan Gates and two interceptions and 11 tackles. Hughson was a well-coached team and a good team and they were going to make some plays and they did and they never quit." Up until late in the game, the Tigers led by two scores except for briefly in the second quarter when Hughson scored its first touchdown to make the score 13-7. Roseville quarterback Mason Susnara opened the scoring by connecting with JJ Yung for a 45-yard touchdown pass and Colton Wolfe put the Tigers in front 13-0 early in the second quarter with a three-yard touchdown run. After Hughson cut the lead to 13-7, Roseville's Austin Chang kicked a 40-yard field goal to put the Tigers in front 16-7. That lasted until the team's final score, a 10-yard pass from Susnara to Kenny McClure in the third quarter. Cash Fischer made a key fumble recovery on the final play of the third quarter, which kept the Huskies out of the end zone and gave the Tigers the ball inside the five-yard line. Roseville's offense held on to the ball for six minutes before they had to punt to Hughson. "We did enough on offense, but we missed some things," Reinking said. "We didn't turn the ball over and we didn't kill ourselves. We tried to run out the clock there at the end, but we ran out of gas." Roseville, the No. 2 seed in the Division IV playoff bracket, will not get a rematch with Twelve Bridges that they were hoping for, as the top-seeded Raging Rhinos were upset by the No. 4 seeded East Union Lancers, 61-55. In two playoff games, the Lancers have scored 119 points. "It seems like they've scored a million points," Reinking said of the Lancers. "They've got two track stars on their team and we've got our work cut out for us. We've played a lot of good offensive teams, and our defense has kept us in games all season."