Hillmen bounce back, blank Antelope 31-0

Friday night was gut-check time for the Placer Hillmen, who were coming off a disappointing loss to rival Del Oro the previous week. The Hillmen rose to the occasion, dominating Antelope on the road and riding a relentless defense and a balanced attack on the ground to a 31-0 victory. "The kids knew we were better than our showing last week against a pretty great Del Oro football team," said Placer coach Joey Montoya. "We just really focused on that all week. I think the guys were eager and the coaching staff was eager to get back on the field and kind of get the ship going back in the right direction." The offense clicked behind senior running backs Shaun Jones and Danny Sanchez-Harlow. Jones carried the ball 19 times for 97 yards and two touchdowns, while Sanchez-Harlow added 78 yards rushing and two scores. Sanchez-Harlow also hauled in a 62-yard reception from freshman quarterback Chase Rodarte that set the tone in the second half. Rodarte, who got the call-up to varsity, passed for 84 yards in his debut. Senior Liam Grant added efficiency with 57 yards on 5-of-6 passing. In total, the Hillmen racked up 347 total yards, including 206 on the ground. Montoya said Rodarte is expected to platoon as he adjusts to the speed of the varsity game. As good as the offense was, the defense stole the show. Antelope was bottled up all evening by a Hillmen front that registered 12 tackles for loss and three sacks. Jesiah Aday led Placer with 10 total tackles, while William Santamaria tallied nine, including four behind the line of scrimmage in his first game back from injury. Riley Nilsen and Keilin Beverage each had an interception. Montoya was proud of his team's turnaround and said the Hillmen made their biggest statement on defense, saying it "was the indicator that we're going in the right direction." Placer (2-2) will be host to Burbank (1-3) on Friday night in a final nonleague tune-up. Montoya said they need to build on the win as October approaches. "I'd love to see us take another big step in execution and play well in all three phases of the game," he said. "There's a lot of youth on this team so the goal in the long run is progress. Our goal is to have a great week this week and grow again."