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Tokay High's Seth Siddle-Mitchell avoids a tackle attempt by Grant's Vidal Davis during Friday's Sac-Joaquin Section Division II playoff game in Sacramento. (Dan Evans/News-Sentinel)
Collision with Grant Pacers knocks Tokay Tigers out of football playoffs
When Tokay High quarterback Seth Siddle-Mitchell was knocked out of Friday night's Sac-Joaquin Section Division II first-round playoff game, the Tigers' hopes of contending with the defending state champion Grant Pacers went with him.
The Pacers proved why they are the defending section champ, running through the Tigers on their way to a 65-0 victory at Grant High School.
Siddle-Mitchell, the heart of Tokay's offense, suffered a concussion about eight minutes into the contest. He watched the rest of the game with a dazed look in his eye, cloaked in a purple-hooded sweatshirt on the sideline.
Friday's scores
Division ITracy 55, Enochs 24
Burbank 25, Lincoln 23
Sheldon 20, Oak Ridge 17
Division II
St. Mary's 49, Buhach Colony 0
Grant 65, Tokay 0
Atwater 18, Stagg 13
He completed one pass for 63 yards before leaving and outside of that pass, the No. 14 Tigers managed only nine total yards on offense in the contest.
"Seth is a huge part of our offense," Tokay senior running back/linebacker Michael Hernandez said. "He is the key to the option. When we lost him, we lost a lot of power."
With Tokay back-up quarterback Zach McCurdy already out with a shoulder injury, junior wide receiver Mikey Pedraza was forced to come in at QB. It didn't help when starting center Matt Powaser broke a finger in the first quarter and also left the game. With the injuries, Tokay was forced to keep the ball on the ground for the remainder of the game. Grant's huge defensive line took advantage and sacked Tokay five times and hit the Tigers for losses on 10 other plays.
"We knew we didn't have any depth anywhere coming in. I thought we could have given them a better game, but we are so dang thin that we got so vanilla and against a team like this you cannot just play one way," Tokay head coach Louis Franklin said.
Grant's offense was as good as advertised. Devontae Butler's flashing speed blew by Tigers and broke through the tackles of anyone who could keep up with him. He ran for 178 yards on 15 carries for two touchdowns to lead the No. 3 Pacers, who finished with 433 yards off offense.
"It wasn't real competitive. We have a lot of talent and now that a lot of our younger kids are really stepping up, it is a hard offense to defend against," Grant head coach Mike Alberghini said of his squad, which is determined to repeat as state champs. "We control our own destiny if we play up to what we can do. We have size, speed, athleticism. It's now about just taking care of business."
Things started off well for the Tigers. With help from a Grant penalty, Tokay forced a three-and-out on the opening possession.
The Pacers scored two quick touchdowns, one on a lucky fumble that bounced back to them, to go up 14-0.
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Tokay responded with its only bright spot on offense all night. Siddle-Mitchell found Gabe Ramirez sprinting across the middle on a 20-yard route and Ramirez ran another 43 yards to the Pacers' 18-yard line.
Unfortunately for the Tigers, Grant clamped down and Tokay never got any closer. In a 7 1/2-minute span in the second quarter, Grant scored four touchdowns. Two came on fumble recoveries — one on a snap over Pedraza's head and the other on a deflected and intercepted Pedraza pitch.
With Grant's blocks sending Tigers flying, the Pacers piled up 344 yards off offense in the first half on their way to a 56-0 lead at halftime. But the Tigers didn't give up.
While Tokay forced and recovered two Grant fumbles in the second half, and made the Pacers turn the ball over on downs once, the Pacers added one last TD and a safety before the final whistle blew.
Despite the outcome, Franklin said he was proud of his team.
Grant's winning streak now stands at 25 games and the Pacers will now face Fairfield (9-2) in the second round.
Contact reporter Joelle Milholm at joellem@lodinews.com.
| GRANT 65, TOKAY 0 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tokay | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 |
| Grant | 21 | 35 | 7 | 2 | — | 65 |
| Scoring Summary | ||||||
| First Quarter G — Thompson 8 run (kick good) G — Epps 1 fumble recovery (kick good) G— Thompson 61 run (kick good) | ||||||
| Second Quarter G — Deary 5 run (kick good) G — Isaacs 5 fumble recovery (kick good) G — Butler 8 run (kick good) G — R. Thompson 48 pass from Deary (kick good) G — Fields (25 fumble recovery (kick good) | ||||||
| Third Quarter G — Butler 29 run (kick good) | ||||||
| Fourth Quarter G — Safety, Tokay fumbled out of end zone | ||||||
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SonOfShakes wrote on Nov 25, 2009 7:49 PM:
SportsGuru wrote on Nov 25, 2009 9:46 AM:
I do congratulate Tokay on making the playoffs. Yes, they wouldn't have made it without the playoffs being expanded .. but they still made it! "
SportsGuru wrote on Nov 25, 2009 9:46 AM:
As for the opening paragraph of this article .. kind of funny. Tokay didn't lose because Seth was knocked out of the game, they lost because their defense gave up 65 points (and would have probably given up more had Grant not taken their foot off the accelerator in the 4th quarter).
Seth was a non factor in the ultimate outcome of that game. "
SportsGuru wrote on Nov 25, 2009 9:44 AM:
All I can say is "Welcome to Division II" .. where small private schools that can recruit (like SM) - and medium sized public schools have power programs. Moving down isn't necessarily a "move down" in talent.
Does anyone find it interesting that Grant has a contingent of big Samoans on the team - much like the team at Franklin High in Stockton that was penalized by CIF for recruiting violations?
Seems there is a pipeline to get High School aged Samoan kids into California football programs. "
RUFKM wrote on Nov 24, 2009 8:40 AM:
Galt, Stagg and Tokay.
If Tokay would have played Lodi before they moved Perkins to FB, Tokay wins. But Lodi beat up Tokay.
Tigermeat, I agree with you about the schedule, both Lodi and Tokay should drop Galt, hopefully contracts aren't an issue.
Is Lodi and Tokay going to keep their same schedules?? "
tigermeat wrote on Nov 23, 2009 8:06 PM:
Having seen St marys's & grant both play twice - please dont think that St mary's will not go toe - toe with grant.... St mary's offense is the best hi school offense in the sac-joaquin section and possibly the state..... The rams will be hard pressed to match up physically with Grant.... great matchup.... If they both make it that far == del oro - Rocklin - Granite bay - Folsom - all have legit section and state bowl shots.....
Tigers - great season -- but, please get Galt off your schedule - dont take a chance playing a team that drops to D4 next year and.. BEAT the flames.... "
flamefan wrote on Nov 23, 2009 3:16 PM:
sportfan wrote on Nov 23, 2009 3:05 PM:
flamefan wrote on Nov 23, 2009 2:48 PM:
flamefan wrote on Nov 23, 2009 2:38 PM:
alf wrote on Nov 23, 2009 8:56 AM:
BrokenL wrote on Nov 23, 2009 8:17 AM:
fballfan wrote on Nov 23, 2009 8:14 AM:
RUFKM wrote on Nov 22, 2009 9:45 PM:
you did strike a nerve of mine. I cannot handle dealing with degenerates who are uninformed, and unintelligent. I was an idiot for stooping to your level and calling you a name you would be able to identify with.
By the way, Tokay beat two teams that qualified for the playoffs, Lodi beat one, Tokay. Tokay's schedule and I'll use your term cupcake, had two nationally ranked teams on it, and three common opponents. In those games Tokay went 3-0 and Lodi went 1-2 with their lone victory coming against Bear Creek.
So much for a cupcake schedule that also included a stop to the defending open division state champions.
The funny part is flamefan is that I graduated from Lodi in 98, and now root for Tokay because of fans like yourself. I have coached many sports in the past and I have found myself appreciate the time and effort of Coaches on Tokay's staff who put into hosting events for their boys and boys in the community. Tokay coaches even hosted a free football camp to the local community during the summer, and that surely shows their dedication to the game and community. "
alf wrote on Nov 22, 2009 8:14 PM:
flamefan wrote on Nov 22, 2009 3:41 PM:
flamefan wrote on Nov 22, 2009 3:37 PM:
flamefan wrote on Nov 22, 2009 3:34 PM:
flamefan wrote on Nov 22, 2009 3:32 PM:
flamefan wrote on Nov 22, 2009 3:30 PM:
RUFKM wrote on Nov 22, 2009 7:45 AM:
Tokay did have the best season of the two.
Once again, Tokay beat Stagg and Galt, proving verse a common opponent Tokay was consistently better. Lodi beat Tokay on one of the worse performances of the year. You need to go to more than one Tokay game before you feel like you can have a valid opinion.
Lodi would not have beat Brookside, as they will probably win the D5 championship.
Lodi would not have beat Edison, they didn't beat Stagg, they didn't beat Galt, or West for that matter. They for sure would have been beaten down against St.Mary's as well.
Tokay played two nationally ranked teams in the last three weeks! That is a pretty cupcake schedule isn't it. When is the last time Lodi, played against a defending state champ, uh never! "
flamefan wrote on Nov 21, 2009 10:57 PM:
Hope2Be wrote on Nov 21, 2009 10:19 PM:
thsfbmom wrote on Nov 21, 2009 9:32 PM:
tokaydude wrote on Nov 21, 2009 12:39 PM:
Mrs. S. wrote on Nov 21, 2009 12:36 PM:
Grant is one formidable opponent, and no team from Lodi or San Joaquin County stands a chance against them. I'm not saying this to dis any area high school (my kids attended Tokay); I'm just stating a fact.
I have no doubt Grant will be in the state championships again. Maybe they'll take the title again, too. "
giant49er wrote on Nov 21, 2009 9:00 AM:
Whoa Nellie! wrote on Nov 21, 2009 8:43 AM:
citizen wrote on Nov 21, 2009 8:31 AM:
brokenl wrote on Nov 21, 2009 7:45 AM:
Comments on this story are now closed.