Frosh and JV teams recognized for strong SFL play

During football season, Sierra Foothill League high school freshmen and JV football teams rarely get the newspaper ink they deserve. 2007 was no different, with most media attention devoted to varsity programs, but two squads composed of underclassmen served notice that they will be among the favorites in the not-too-distant future for a varsity league title.The Granite Bay Grizzlies JV team under coach Jason Rath went a perfect 10-0 in 2007, the highlight being a season-ending victory over Del Oro that propelled the Grizzlies to an SFL championship.For Rath, it was a season filled with strong opponents and amazing play from his JV unit."Every week was a tough game," Rath said. "I was extremely proud of our team and was amazed at how well they did."On offense, Rath said that a number of players stepped up for Granite Bay in 2007, specifically mentioning running back Devonte Bolton, who was moved up to varsity for the playoffs at the conclusion of the JV season, fellow running backs Matt Kine and Travis Nicholas and quarterback Michael Borgesi.Defensively the coach said, Granite Bay was led by Nick Goodrich, Jacob Kludjian, Nick Kemper and Marshall Gustafson. "I've never seen a group of players who wanted to win so badly," Rath said. "And they went about winning the right way."At the freshman level, the Woodcreek Timberwolves set a school record, finishing an excellent 9-1 under coach Todd McKillop."Freshmen football is unique," McKillop said. "Probably 80 percent of the kids had never played before."McKillop and his team were able to survive the growth pains of learning the game's fundamentals and flourished in SFL play, only losing to Granite Bay 14-12 in week nine of the season."The thing I preached all year, and I know it sounds corny, was love, acceptance, forgiveness and being a family," McKillop said. "I didn't want kids getting on other kids for their mistakes. The greatest thing we did as a team was becoming a close-knit unit where the kids really cared for each other." When asked for the season's top highlight, McKillop pointed to his team's comeback against Ponderosa."We were down against Ponderosa by 20 points with seven minutes left in the game and we made some big plays to win that game," McKillop said. According to McKillop, the undisputed leader of the T-wolves offensively was running back JJ North."He made big plays all year long," McKillop said. "He runs like the wind and is very elusive. He was voted our offensive MVP."On the defensive side of the ball, McKillop credited his middle linebacker."The guy who was probably the center of everything was Jason Stewart," McKillop said. "He's a tough kid and smart as a whip. A student of the game."Though he singled out North and Stewart, McKillop was quick to say that a lot of his players had stepped up through the season."We had a lot of kids who contributed," McKillop said. "Derek Kimball came up with some big interceptions, Blake Cervantes made some great catches for us on offense, some of our linemen made some big blocks. A lot of the kids really grew up this year."E-mail ptsports@goldcountrymedia.com.