Dragon Slayers! Hillmen hound Bishop O'Dowd with defensive front

On a cool night with a picturesque sunset to the west of LeFebvre Stadium, the Placer Hillmen put together a complete football game against some name-brand football players Friday night. With a 48-14 win over Bishop O'Dowd of Oakland, Placer improved to 3-2 in 2019 just ahead of Foothill Valley League play, which begins next week at Nevada Union. "I think our offense really started to click and our defense was swarming the ball," said Placer center Kyle Christensen. "We never really let up, and I think that was huge for us." The Dragons feature names that are very recognizable in the gridiron landscape. Bishop O'Dowd is coached by former Oakland Raider running back Napoleon Kaufman. His son, Nehemiah, is a running back on the team with Pac-12 interest from the Washington Huskies. Wideout Sterling Stokes, son of former San Francisco 49ers receiver JJ Stokes, also has Pac-12 and Ivy League prospects, and quarterback Jesse Madden is the grandson of arguably the most famous football coach of all-time in Raiders icon John Madden. "That team's incredibly talented and they're going to win a lot of football games," said Placer head coach Joey Montoya. "I know their record is not very good right now, but if you look at their schedule, a lot of teams would have struggled against the teams that they've played against." The Hillmen managed to avoid any hype that may have come with facing a team with such football pedigree. "Something our coaches preach is just focusing on yourself," Christensen said. "A big philosophy we have is 'do your job'. So, that's what we focus on. We focus on doing our thing to the best of our ability." Never one to have his ability questioned, Placer running back Hans Grassmann was once again at the forefront of the Hillmen ground game. After a 275-yard, five-touchdown performance at Vista del Lago two weeks ago, Grassmann rushed for 111 yards on 13 carries with three TDs Friday, including a 59-yarder midway through the second quarter. But it was Placer's supporting cast in the backfield that had Montoya beaming. "I was impressed with how some of our juniors really stepped up tonight," Montoya said. "Dylan Logelin, Zavery Guerra and AJ Ferreira really stepped up for us tonight big time and filled in very nicely." After missing the first five weeks with an injury, Logelin set the tone on his first touch of the season, picking up 20 yards on the first play from scrimmage. That drive led to a 1-yard score by Grassmann to give Placer a 7-0 lead. Guerra had a 63-yard pickup from QB Martin Haswell to set up Logelin for a 5-yard score in the first quarter. Guerra also reached the end zone in the third quarter to put the Hillmen up 42-0. Placer's defense, which carried a shutout into the fourth quarter, was led by senior linebacker Evan Robinson, who had eight tackles and a 25-yard interception return for a touchdown. "Evan's an incredible player for us," said Montoya. "He really, really cares about what he's doing for us and he's one of our premier two-way starters. He was on a mission tonight." Nate Russell also grabbed an interception for Placer. Logan Wilkins scored the final TD for the Hillmen in the fourth quarter. Kicker Alex Bohn was 6-of-7 on extra point attempts. Placer now shifts its focus to FVL play next week at Nevada Union – a program Montoya once coached at the beginning of his career. The Hillmen know that this season features a much improved league. "Every team seems to be contenders this year," said Montoya. "A couple teams – Rio Linda and Lincoln – are ranked ahead of us. So, we know we have our hands full. It should be a heck of a battle every week."