Grizzlies dominate Ponderosa

With a 42-7 win over Ponderosa last Friday, Granite Bay's varsity football team completed its non-league portion of its schedule with a 3-1 record. The only blemish on their record was the 42-36 loss to a very good Pittsburg team on Aug. 29. Granite Bay opens Sierra Foothill League play at home Friday against Jesuit (3-1). The Grizzlies made quick work of the Bruins, leading 35-7 at halftime and scoring one more time in the second half to institute a running clock. Isaiah Ene scored three touchdowns, two in the first half on runs of one and nine yards and then he finished off the scoring in the second half with a 31-yard run. Ene gained 138 yards on 12 carries. Gabe Smyth scored on a one-yard run in the first half, while Granite Bay opened the scoring with a 42-yard pass from Dominic Cattolico to Darnell Turner. Cattolico completed 7-of-11 passes for 139 yards and a touchdown, while Turner caught four passes for 77 yards and a touchdown. Brody Walker also scored a defensive touchdown for the Grizzlies, as he recovered a fumble and returned it 42 yards for a score. "It was similar to the Vista del Lago game," Cattolico said. "The score wasn't indicative of how close the games were. We did a good job of not letting them score, but they did move the ball on us and had a lot of yards. I thought our offensive line played well, but we allowed more yards than I would have liked." With the preseason over, the Grizzlies now, ready or not, must buckle their chinstraps for the Sierra Foothill League schedule. "I thought the preseason went well," Cattolico said. "We did some good things and we have some things we can build on, but there are also some things we need to get better at, like most teams." The Grizzlies are happy with their 3-1 record, but at this point they're still trying to develop more players. "We have some guys that have played a good amount of varsity football and those guys are making plays as we hoped they would. We're also trying to get some newer, less experienced guys, to step up and make plays and help to take the pressure off some of those other veteran players." On Friday, Jesuit begins the SFL gauntlet for the Grizzlies, followed by Oak Ridge and then Del Oro. "The thing with the SFL is everybody's pretty good, right," Cattolico said. "Every week is going to be tough. We open with Jesuit. They had a bunch of turnovers early and lost to Woodcreek in their first game, but they've responded well since then. You know they're going to be well-coached. You know they're going to play hard, and you know they're going to have athletes and play physical football. We'll have our work cut out for us, for sure."