Thunder come out on top in battle to final seconds against Trojans

The Sierra Foothill League has featured battles each week and that was no different Friday night as the Rocklin Thunder outlasted the Oak Ridge Trojans 21-17 in a game that came down to the final play. With four seconds remaining, the Trojans had the ball at the Thunder 13-yard-line and quarterback Maddox Varella threw a pass into the left side of the end zone into a crowd of players that fell incomplete. Varella had a solid night for the Trojans, finishing with 187 yards and a touchdown. Oak Ridge High was also led by senior running back Jake Hall, who had 101 yards and a touchdown in the fourth quarter. "He's a great leader that plays both ways," Trojans coach Casey Taylor said. "We didn't really run it that well in the first half and wanted to establish the run in the second half and I thought we did a great job; it just wasn't enough." The Rocklin High team has struggled offensively but has improved each week of Sierra Foothill League competition, especially in its passing game. Senior quarterback Joey Roberts finished the night with 208 yards and two touchdowns on passes of nine yards to Mavrik Collins in the first half and a 50-yard bomb to junior Brody Desario in the second half. "Our offense really stepped up and made some big plays," Thunder coach Jason Adams said. "Joey would tell you he'd like to have three or four passes back but that's him. We know we have a winner in Joey and that he will battle until the end. He's a microcosm of the whole team." Desario also had a solid night defensively and intercepted a Varella pass in the second quarter. "I saw my receiver come in and I was playing over the top and saw it get thrown over the top right to me," Desario said. "I was looking for a lane to return it and there were great blocks by the defense on the return." The game was a defensive battle throughout and there was no score from either team in the first quarter and it was only 7-7 at halftime. The Trojans hurt themselves with penalties in the second half as they totaled seven for 47 yards. Outside of the Hall touchdown in the fourth quarter, the only other Trojan score in the final 24 minutes came from a 33-yard field goal by Carson Nichols. "Those penalties were at bad times after a touchdown and then on third downs," Taylor said. "I just thought these were two good teams playing hard football. We moved it well in the second half and I was proud of my team driving down the field at the end and having an opportunity to win it but we have to play better in all phases." The Trojans drop to 7-2 on the season and 3-2 in Sierra Foothill League play. They will finish up the regular season on Friday against Del Oro High. For the Thunder, the win brings them to 7-2 and 4-1 in league competition. Rocklin High will face Folsom High away on Thursday with a chance to capture a share of the league title and get revenge from their Sac-Joaquin Section title loss last season. "Every week is a chance for us to get tested," Adams said. "Folsom is going to give us a great test next week and we will get better playing against them. If we're the better team against them next week, then great, but if we can't get the victory, we will learn some things about ourselves." Oak Ridge&emsp;&emsp;0&emsp;&emsp;7&emsp;&emsp;3&emsp;&emsp;7 Rocklin&emsp;&emsp;&emsp; 0&emsp;&emsp;7&emsp;&emsp;0&emsp;&emsp;14 Rocklin - Mavrik Collins 9 pass from Joey Roberts (Logan Pandis kick) Oak Ridge - Tyler Guthmiller 30 pass from Maddox Varella (Carson Nichols kick) Oak Ridge - Nichols 33-yard FG Rocklin - Brody Desario 50 pass from Roberts (Pandis kick) Oak Ridge - Jake Hall 1 run (Nichols kick) Rocklin - Mason Silva 1 run (Pandis kick)