Section Championship Eludes BC Pride
Dec 06, 2024 11:03AM ● By Alejandro Barron
Bradshaw Christian Pride players console each other after their loss in the Sac-Joaquin Section Championship game at Sacramento City College against the Sonora Wildcats on Nov. 29. Photo by Alejandro Barron
ELK GROVE, CA (MPG) - Last season the Bradshaw Christian Pride fell to the Hughson Huskies in the Sac-Joaquin Section Championship game at Sacramento City College, and they arguably came back better this season.
This year the Pride once again reached the section championship game at Sacramento City College on Nov. 29, this time against the Sonora Wildcats.
They entered this matchup with a 12-0 record and outscored their opponents 550-112 with a core group of seniors, some playing together since middle school.
Due to these results, the Pride was looking to reverse the fortune from last year and win their sixth-section championship and first since 2015.
The opening play of the game did not favor the Pride as the Wildcats quarterback ran the ball to put themselves at first and goal which later led to the score going up 7-0.
“It’s just difficult to simulate what they do,” the assistant coach, filling in as the head coach after coach Rickert’s ejection, Dan Paige said. “They run so well so to try to simulate it in a week is very difficult.”
The Pride came out aggressive as the first play of the game was a pass, although they tended to stay on the ground for the most part and went on to attempt the fourth down conversion on their first offensive drive and failed.
They ultimately went for the fourth down conversion on back-to-back drives but would convert on their second try on a drive that featured big runs from the seniors and team captains Brandon Burden, Mateo Mojica and Ethan Rickert.
Mojica would ultimately run into the endzone to tie the game at 7 but a Wildcat field goal would send the game to halftime with a 10-7 score.
This was Mojica’s lone touchdown but rushed for 111 yards on 19 carries.
In the second half, coach Drew Rickert continued to voice his displeasure towards the officiating, something that started in the first quarter.
He became very animated when expressing his disagreement with some of the calls which cost his team a lot of penalties and yardage and ultimately cost him being able to stay on the sidelines.
To compound this mistake, Ethan Rickert with third and long threw an interception that was taken back for a touchdown to put the Wildcats up 16-7 after the extra point was missed.
Coach Rickert was eventually ejected from the ballgame.
The response to this was a 40-yard pass to another team captain and senior Devyn McDonald II to get them downfield to attempt to get back into the game.
McDonald II was a big target for Ethan Rickert as he had two receptions for 81 yards.
It wouldn’t be easy as again the Pride attempted a fourth down conversion which they got thanks to Mojica and later led to senior Nathan Zeppieri to run into the endzone for a 9-yard rushing touchdown.
This made it 16-14 and the Pride got the stop on defense to get the ball back to sway the momentum back in their favor.
Yet it wasn’t going to be that easy as a fumble recovered by the Wildcats’ Tanner Navaro who had the interception earlier swayed the momentum back to the Wildcats side.
This drive for the Wildcats led to a fourth and two at the Pride’s 35-yard line in the fourth quarter where junior Myles Damallie got the tackle to get the ball back and send their crowd into a frenzy.
The Pride marched downfield and got inside the 10-yard line where Zeppieri was met by two Wildcats near the goal line but pushed through with the help of some of his teammates to get him into the endzone.
He shot up to show his emotion now that his team led 20-16 with 4:43 left in the game.
Zeppieri rushed for a total of 42 yards on nine carries for two touchdowns.
Even with four minutes on the clock, the Wildcats’ following drive burned a lot of clock as they completed screen passes and found open spaces on the ground that led them to the 10-yard line.
The Wildcats would have third and goal on the two-yard line when the Pride called a timeout with 25 seconds left.
The Pride had been clutch on defense on goal-line stops with fourth downs the previous week against the Linden Lions and they looked to replicate that in the biggest game of the season.
The Pride got the stop on third down as they stopped the Wildcats who were inches from taking the lead.
Up to this point, McDonald II led the team with 12 total tackles along with Mojica who had 11. Damallie would also have a sack for a 12-yard loss.
With fourth and goal, the Wildcats quarterback ran to the outside and into the endzone to regain the lead at 23-20.
Although they couldn’t come up with a stop, Paige and the coaching staff believed they could stop the Wildcats.
“They ran that triple option better than you can replicate in a team so we can all get our assignments down but to do it in the amount of time with how fast they do it is extremely difficult,” Paige said.
Although a touchback put the Pride at their own 20 and nine seconds left, they had a chance for a miracle as they attempted to find an open receiver, but Ethan Rickert was met by Wildcat tackles.
A few laterals kept the play alive but ultimately nothing could be done and the Pride lost to make it back-to-back losses in the section championship game.
The Pride’s perfect season came to an end in the most important game of the season.
“It’s tough, you plan all year for this one day and then fall three points short is as tough as it gets,” Paige said.
This is an end of an era of sorts for this senior class which Paige said is “the best group we’ve ever had here.”
“It’s just tough when you come to the CIF playoffs sometimes you play a great team and we’re looking back through all the years that we’ve made section title runs and I think this is the best opponent that we’ve ever played,” Paige said.
Paige also said that he thinks every year, except this year, with this senior class that the Pride would’ve ended up as section champions.
