Granite Bay Wins Close One in NorCal
Granite Bay Wins Close One in NorCal
Northern California’s Premier league is now underway and Granite Bay put up an impressive marker with a 29-22 victory over Jesuit of Sacramento.
Senior Carter Keller was outstanding for Granite Bay. The openside flanker showcased a high work rate and was, said Head Coach Chris Miller, “a tackling machine.”
Co-Captain Abe Antrobus played both flyhalf and fullback and was effective, especially with his goalkicking. Meanwhile Deacon Ogden led the attack at scrumhalf.
It was a tough battle for both teams. Jesuit took a 17-7 lead into halftime led by captain and flyhalf Jack Patock, who has been enjoying some excellent form.
Jesuit left points unclaimed, too—they were held up twice and a confusion on what lines were for what sport led to Jesuit running past the goalline instead of touching down.
Granite Bay scored twice to take the lead. Jesuit then re-took the lead 22-17.
But a couple of concussion-protocol issues and an injury to Patock didn’t help and Granite Bay continued their relentless onslaught, leveraging some good continuity among the forwards, scoring two tries in the latter part of the second half to take the lead and ice it 29-22.
“We got frustrated and that led to penalties,” said Jesuit Head Coach Andrew Acosta.
Along with Patock, fullback Maverick Nagel was a dangerous attacker for Jesuit, and up front props Tristan McLoughlin and Duncan Broughton were very much a handful.
“Typical tough game for our league,” said Acosta.
In another tough game, SFGG beat Marin 21-17. Led by lock Paddy Connelly and with flanker and captain Elon Burke putting in a big shift. The midfield of Christian Calero and Lucas Kirk were key also as SFGG welcomes their St. Giantius SF players into the club scene.
SFGG scored three tries, with Martin McCusker converting two and Aidan Swanson converting one to win the game.
De La Salle won comfortably over Mother Lode 57-0. Carson Phillips got a start at flyhalf and did very well running the team's new attack pattern.
"After the St. Francis loss we knew we had to change some things up and the boys have worked hard on this new style over the last two weeks," said DLS Head Coach Derek Holmberg. "It allowed us to be a little more direct and resulted in our athletes getting the ball with more time to make decisions."
