Senior Night was certainly one to remember for the Vacaville High School football team.
In front of a packed home crowd Friday, the Bulldogs trounced Sacramento 42-13, with five different seniors finding paydirt in their final regular-season home game at Tom Zunino Stadium.
“I’m just really proud of the journey that we’re on with them,” Vacaville head coach Mike Papadopoulos said. “They have shown some really good leadership and some resilience, especially when things were tough on us at the beginning of the year.”
Vacaville senior quarterback Brendan Jackson said it was surreal taking the field for what could be the final home game of his high school career.
“This was one of those games where you had to win it,” Jackson said. “And there was no better way we could’ve won it.”
Jackson’s lone touchdown pass was a 24-yard strike to senior receiver Conner Golden, who made a SportsCenter Top 10-worthy grab. Jackson put the ball on Golden’s back shoulder, and the senior snatched it out of the air with one hand before landing in the back of the end zone.
“We ran that play earlier and they all bit on the out, so I’m like we gotta run it again some time,” Golden said. “We ran it again, the corner bit and then I came down with it. That’s just the job of being a receiver.”
Vacaville’s Dylan Borjesson gets around Sacramento’s Isaiah Blackwell for a big gain during the Bulldogs’ 42-13 win on Friday. (Chris Riley/The Reporter)
Golden’s grab, giving the Bulldogs a 14-0 lead, came one play after Nicholas Lozano recovered a fumble. Vacaville’s first touchdown came on a 25-yard scamper from senior Dylan Borjesson, who ran untouched up the middle thanks to exceptional blocking from senior offensive linemen Eli Cremo and Carter Edmonds.
“With these two weeks, there was definitely a fear of having a little bit of rust,” Papadopoulos said. “Defensively, they made a great turnover to put us in that position. Things were going well for us all over the field and in all phases so I was the most proud of that.”
Not only did the Bulldogs put the ball in the hands of their bruising running backs, but they dialed up a handful of reverses to senior receivers Jake Williams and Devin Bishop, who each scored rushing touchdowns.
“We normally load the box in the middle,” Jackson said. “So we tried it outside and it was working really well.”
Vacaville’s Devin Bishop jumps around Sacramento’s Isaiah Blackwell to score a touchdown during the Bulldogs’ 42-13 win on Friday. (Chris Riley/The Reporter)
Defensively, Vacaville limited the Sac-Joaquin Section’s fourth-leading rusher, sophomore Cordell Radcliffe, to 94 yards on 19 carries. Radcliffe also brought in four receptions for 38 yards.
“The kids just did a nice job playing assignment football,” Papadopoulos said. “We were able to do things from a coverage standpoint to support that as well.”
Senior Roman Conner-Owens opened the second half with five straight carries for 49 yards and a touchdown. On the ensuing drive, he dropped into coverage and picked off Sacramento quarterback King Mastin on fourth down.
After Bishop scored an 11-yard touchdown on a reverse, the Bulldogs leaned on junior quarterback Malakai Hunt and junior running back Gabriel Slade to close out the win.
“We knew that coming into this game, this could possibly be our last home game,” Golden said. “We were like ‘we have to go out with a bang’ and that’s exactly what we did.”
Vacaville extended its win streak to six and improved to 4-0 in the Monticello Empire League. The Bulldogs can clinch at least a share of the MEL title with a win over River City on Friday.