Granite Bay has 2 pick sixes, dominates Rio

Granite Bay easily took care of Rio Americano on Friday night, winning the opening game of their season, 45-17. The Grizzlies led 14-3 after the first quarter and then scored 24 unanswered points in the second quarter to put the game away. "Not bad for a first game," Granite Bay coach Joe Cattolico said. "We weren't as sharp as we wanted to be, but there were good things to build on. The kids made some plays and we had some things that were positive and we obviously had some things that we need to improve on." Cattolico had to like the three interceptions by his defense, two of which they returned for touchdowns. Darnell Turner Jr. and James Pease scored on those opportunities, while Turner also had a second interception, which he wasn't able to take back to the house. Billy Heinselman led the team with seven tackles. "I liked that we were opportunistic and had three interceptions, two which we ran back for touchdowns," Cattolico said. "Offensively, I like how we put up 38 points in the first half. Obviously, we didn't score that near that many in the second half, but when you score 38 points in the first half that's pretty good." Isaiah Ene scored two rushing touchdowns and gained 64 yards on 11 carries. Gabe Smyth led the team in rushing with 69 yards, while Dylan Tetz also rushed for 48 yards and a touchdown. As a team, the Grizzlies gained 192 yards rushing. Quarterback Dominic Cattolico also had a good night, as he completed nine-of-11 passes for 108 yards and threw one touchdown to Turner Jr. "We didn't play as well in the second half and that was partially because of what they were doing on defense and partly because we were subbing," Cattolico said. "I think Rio Americano's got a good team and they'll have a good season. I think this game got away from them a bit." Offensively, the Grizzlies also received a field goal from Jimmy Deslaurier. This week the Grizzlies will play a much tougher opponent on the road at Pittsburg. Last year the Pirates defeated Folsom in the Nor-Cal championship game before advancing to the state championship game where they lost. "They've got quite a tradition," Cattolico said. "They've been very good at football since people started playing the sport. We have our work cut out for us. That's intentional, though. We did it on purpose. We think we did some good things this week, but we've got to be better next week. They're definitely a top-20 team in the state of California." Granite Bay played Pittsburg in a preseason game in 2023 and lost 41-21.