'Game-1 mistakes' doom Hillmen at Casa Roble

For the fifth consecutive season, Placer High School opened its football season against Casa Roble in a matchup of two of the top small-school programs in the Sac-Joaquin Section. The home team has had the edge in every game of the series and this year was no exception, as the Rams pulled away late for a 46-30 victory in Orangevale. Placer coach Joey Montoya said the Hillmen trailed by one possession most of the night, but critical mistakes at key moments proved costly. "We just didn't execute in the pivotal moments," said Montoya. "We got inside the red zone four different times, once to take the lead right before half, and just made some game one errors where we didn't block the correct guy or didn't pick up a linebacker, and it cost us. Honestly, I wish I had a couple calls back myself, too, especially right before the half because we had all the momentum and could have taken the lead but didn't capitalize on it." Montoya said it was frustrating to lose a game due to mistakes but noted everything he saw was fixable. "We just got to iron out the game-one mistakes," said Montoya. Placer moved the ball well with its backfield duo of Shaun Jones and Danny Sanchez-Harlow. Each ran for more than 100 yards. Jones rushed for 137 yards and two touchdowns on 20 rushes. Sanchez-Harlow tallied 109 yards on 16 carries. Alex Lopez added 41 yards on six carries and had a touchdown reception as well. The Hillmen trailed 15-0 and 22-6 before a pick six by Alex Soderman swung the momentum in their favor. A field goal cut it to a one-score game, but Placer was unable to capture the lead late in the first half. Casa Roble was elevated by quarterback Aidan Lopez, who passed for more than 200 yards and two touchdowns in the first half. His top target was Karter Cross, who snagged six passes for 72 yards. Lopez also connected with Jared Alexander for a 73-yard touchdown on third down. Running back Kasey Hildebrand had three scoring plunges for the Rams. "There were a few long third downs that they had that went for touchdowns," Montoya said. "Casa is a great football team. The difference is they made plays. Their quarterback can sling it and they've got some speed at the running back position." The Hillmen will be in the friendly confines of LeFebvre Stadium on Friday night for their home opener against Laguna Creek in the first meeting between the schools since 2017. Montoya stressed the importance of getting back on the right track, noting Placer's nonleague schedule does this team no favors and every game will be a battle. Said Montoya, "This team's going to be fine. We have to make plays in those critical moments, but I have all the confidence in the world that these guys are going to right the ship and us coaches will fix what we need to fix."