Twelve Bridges pulls away from Placer in shootout

The top two teams in Division IV in the Sac-Joaquin Section were in action Friday night in Auburn, as Placer hosted Twelve Bridges in a game that could not only determine the Foothill Valley League title but the top seed in the playoffs as well. In another classic, high-scoring battle between head coaches Chris Bean of Twelve Bridges and Joey Montoya of Placer, the Raging Rhinos pulled away in a 51-34 triumph. The schools combined for 947 total yards and averaged more than eight yards per carry. The first punt came in the middle of the fourth quarter, and some trickery gave Twelve Bridges the spark it needed to put the game on ice. With a 10-point lead in the fourth, the Rhinos faced a fourth and two in their territory but rather than punt, they snapped it to bruising senior running back Braeden Ward, who barreled for a first down. The gamble paid off, as the Rhinos took valuable time off the clock and capped the drive with a one-yard scoring plunge by quarterback Connor Flaherty to put the game out of reach. "That fake punt was going down no matter what. I was not giving (Montoya) the ball back," Bean said. "A lot of people it is a little bit of a ballsy move, but at the same time, if you get Braeden Ward a one-yard head start with the ball, it's probably going to be a good thing." Ward spearheaded the Twelve Bridges offense, carrying the ball 29 times for 241 yards. Ward scored three touchdowns in the first quarter and rumbled for 133 yards in the first half. "I knew what my team needed from me in that first quarter. I needed to just play my best and scoring three touchdowns in the first quarter definitely helped our team get the motivation and the drive that we needed," Ward said. "We knew that Placer was definitely going to have a lot of motivation and fire behind them." Ward and the Rhinos ran the ball 48 times for 403 yards, taking control of the game in the trenches. Flaherty had two rushing touchdowns and Gavin Rappa had 70 yards on six carries. Bean said the offensive line, anchored by tackles Colton Hogge and Caleb Amos, might be the best starting unit he has had in the school's brief history. "Colton Hogge, who started as a freshman and is still a junior, has been a three-year guy. Caleb Amos on the other end is, too. These bookends have been with me for three years," Bean said. "This was a big game for our offensive line guys." The Hillmen racked up 316 yards on 39 carries. Baylor Kelley led the way with 113 yards and a touchdown, while powerful junior Shaun Jones pounded the Rhinos for 104 yards and three touchdowns. The Hillmen also had a 40-yard rushing performance from quarterback Rian Miller and a strong night from Alex Lopez, who had a 34-yard touchdown run. Miller passed for 109 yards. Montoya applauded the Hillmen for responding, noting there were just a few plays that didn't go their way that tilted the scales. "We have a potent offense as well. We know that we can respond and score at any time," Montoya said. "I was definitely proud of our kids. They were resilient last night, and they didn't get fazed by having their backs against the wall. We dug ourselves in a hole early and that's tough against an offense like that, but our kids kept fighting and battling back." Isaiah Rodriguez set the tone by scoring on a 55-yard run on the opening drive and returning an interception to the 1-yard line to help give the Rhinos a 14-0 lead just over two minutes into the game. Rodriguez also caught a 41-yard touchdown pass to open the scoring in the third quarter. Bean praised Rodriguez for his resilience, noting the senior playmaker battled the flu all week and missed most of the week of school. "When I saw him this week and I saw how sick he was, I was like, 'Oh, come on,' " Bean said. "Isaiah had a flu game last year where he tore it up and tonight he had another little flu game. Apparently, I just need to get him sick and he's gonna have a game." Placer (6-2, 3-2 FVL) fell out of league title contention but remained the second-ranked team in D-IV. Placer hosts Yuba City (6-2, 3-1 FVL) this week for homecoming. The Hillmen will not raise a 12th league championship banner in 13 years but is still in the mix for a section title and potential rematch with Twelve Bridges. "We've got to learn from this and we still control and destiny," Montoya said. "Unfortunately, the league title is out of reach now, but the playoffs and a bright future is still there. There's no doubt, we expect to see these guys again." Twelve Bridges (8-0, 4-0 FVL) can lock up the league championship this week at Roseville (6-2, 4-1 FVL). Bean credited his team for its unbeaten record and said the group has been motivated by wanting to prove last year's 12-1 record and section championship appearance was not a fluke. "I don't know if it's the section championship loss that motivates them as much as they wanted to get out of the shadow of that very talented team (last year)," Bean said. "So many people were doubting them and it was kind of easy to understand why people would doubt when they didn't have the experience. If they want to go all the way, I have a feeling they could probably take us all the way." TWELVE BRIDGES 51, PLACER 34 Twelve Bridges 27 3 7 14 - 51 Placer 14 7 6 7 - 34 TB - Isaiah Rodriguez 55 run (Connor Frontiera kick) TB - Braeden Ward 1 run (Frontiera kick) Placer - Baylor Kelley 50 run (Andrew Markus kick) TB - Ward 25 run (Frontiera kick) Placer - Shaun Jones 3 run (Markus kick) TB - Ward 28 run (run failed) Placer - Jones 3 run (Markus kick) TB - Frontiera 22 field goal TB - Rodriguez 41 pass from Connor Flaherty (Frontiera kick) Placer - Jones 1 run (pass failed) TB - Flaherty 2 run (Frontiera kick) Placer - Alex Lopez 34 run (Markus kick) TB - Flaherty 1 run (Frontiera kick)