San Jacinto falls short to Grant in title game
The San Jacinto football team was about one minute away from celebrating the school’s first state championship.
And then the unthinkable happened.
Jonah Ardoin returned a short kickoff 43 yards, giving Sacramento Grant great field position and a chance for victory. Two plays later, Joseph McCray tossed a pass to KJ Ryan, who muscled in for the 8-yard score that lifted the Pacers to a 3634 victory over San Jacinto in the CIF State Division 3-AA championship game Saturday in Sacramento.
That score capped a wild finish that saw the teams combine for five touchdowns over the final five minutes.
San Jacinto (12-3) appeared on its way to the victory after Dereun Dortch scored on a 9-yard keeper with just over a minute left.
Noah Frazier pooched a kicked toward the San Jacinto sidelines, but Ardoin caught the ball in stride and the returned it to the San Jacinto 22. McCray completed a 14-yard pass to Ryan before that same duo connected for the decisive touchdown.
The special teams miscue in the final minute was one of a handful of mistakes that cost the Tigers during the game. San Jacinto had snapping and ball-handling issues early in the game, which prevented the offense from making big plays in the first period.
Dortch fumbled on the second play, and Marque Green Jr. scooped the ball up and returned it 13 yards for a touchdown.
Grant (12-2) looked to add to that lead after forcing San Jacinto to punt on the next possession. Semaj Mafu-Hart gashed the defense for runs of 12, 17 and 23 yards to move the ball into the red zone. But San Jacinto’s defense came up with a goal-line stand to keep the score at 8-0. Dre Taylor had a tackle for loss on second down and he batted a pass on fourth down.
San Jacinto eventually got on the scoreboard midway through in the second quarter, and it was the familiar combination of Dortch and Dillon Gresham that capped the drive with a 7-yard touchdown. It was Gresham’s 29th touchdown catch of his junior campaign, breaking the Inland area’s singleseason mark set by Cajon’s Darren Jones in 2017.
Dortch and Gresham connected again for a 45yard touchdown to help give San Jacinto a 13-8 advantage at halftime.
Grant began the second half with a promising drive, but Jeremiah Brown stripped the ball from McCray, and Gresham scooped up the fumble and returned it 84 yards for a score. The Pacers had their backs against the wall after a sack by Andrew Rocha and a penalty. They quickly dug out of that hole, however, as Kingston Lopa hauled in a 40-yard TD pass from McCray.
The real fireworks happened in the fourth quarter.
A high snap on a punt gave Grant the ball at the San Jacinto 26 with just over five minutes remaining. The Pacers took advantage and regained the lead when Joshua Hamilton scored on a 4-yard run.
Dortch and Gresham once again had an answer. On the next play from scrimmage, Dortch rolled to his left and found Gresham 20 yards downfield. Gresham then raced away for a 62-yard touchdown that gave the Tigers a 27-24 lead with 4:37 on the clock.
Grant recovered a squib kick near midfield and needed only six plays to regain the lead. McCray completed passes of 19 and 20 yards to Emre Norcoss and Lopa, respectively, setting up Kyrell Goss-Pruitt’s score on a 3-yard keeper.
San Jacinto’s final touchdown drive of the season started on its 30 with 2:06 remaining. Dortch completed pass to Gresham (10 yards) and Malachi Brown (35 yards), and Dortch capped the drive with back-to-back runs of 9 and 8 yards.
Dortch completed 11 of 22 passes for 197 yards Saturday evening and finished the season with 58 total touchdowns (46 passing, 12 rushing). Gresham had 10 catches for 168 yards and should finish as the national leader in both receiving yards (2,032) and touchdown catches (31). Gresham joins Jones (2,094 yards in 2017) and Centennial’s Javon McKinley (2,062 yards in 2014) as the only Inland players to surpass 2,000 receiving yards in a season.