Quick-strike Bulldogs turn it up in second half to beat Oak Ridge, 28-9

For the first 33 minutes, Oak Ridge had Folsom right where they wanted them. Midway through the third quarter, Oak Ridge led 9-7 and was feeling pretty good, but they had to know Folsom was coming, particular the further their offense struggled to move the ball and put up points. Neither team scored on their first two possessions of the second half. Folsom got an interception from Travis Beatty to end Oak Ridge's first possession, and got the ball near midfield, but Ben Rivas sacked Ryder Lyons for a 17-yard loss on first down and Folsom's second drive ended in a punt. Oak Ridge went three-and-out too, though, and with 3:24 to play in the third quarter Folsom's offense got the ball a third time. After a two-yard pass to Jameson Powell, Lyons threw a short but wider pass to Isaiah Williams and Williams made some players miss and then sprinted the rest of the way to the end zone for a 43-yard touchdown pass, as Folsom had a 14-9 lead. Oak Ridge's next possession ended in Folsom's second interception, this one by Daniel Eagleton, coming inside the Trojan 40-yard line. On the next play, Lyons found a wide open Rob Larson for a 38-yard score and just like the that, Folsom went from down 9-7 to leading 21-9 in 1:26 seconds. That took the wind out of the Oak Ridge sails. Folsom ended the game with its next possession; as Jason Hill took a short pass from Lyons 85 yards for a touchdown, as Folsom won the game 28-9. It's hard to keep the Bulldogs offense down the whole game, especially when your offense isn't scoring and the Trojans only managed one touchdown and one field goal in four possessions in the first half. The first one took all but 57 seconds of the first quarter when Tyler Andujar scored on a one-yard run, capping a 73-yard drive that lasted 11 minutes and three seconds. Andujar couldn't get the snap down and the Trojans missed the extra point. Folsom moved the ball down the field and scored on its first drive on a 15-yard pass from Lyons to Powell and the extra-point gave them a 7-6 lead. Folsom's next drive ended in downs with 2:47 to play and the Trojans took advantage of good field position and took a 9-7 lead at halftime after a 31-yard field goal by Kyle Boeker, setting up the second half. "It was a good game, and we played a good first half," Oak Ridge coach Casey Taylor said. "We probably should have taken advantage of an opportunity to score a touchdown there in the first half, but we were happy the way the game was going. "Field position was key in the second half. We got backed up and couldn't get anything going and had a couple of turnovers that cost us and gave them short fields. They made two really good plays on offense. We've got to re-rack because you can't have one touchdown turn into two. Folsom does a great job of doing that and that's exactly what they did." Lyons somewhat quietly threw for 309 yards on 18-of-26 passes and four touchdowns. Jameson Powell caught six passes for 69 yards, while Jason Hill Jr. caught three passes for 106 yards. Andujar rushed for 40 yards on 18 carries for the Trojans. Nick Johnson completed 10-of-19 passes for 79 yards and three interceptions by Matsen Wurm, Beatty and Eagleton. Troy Taber caught five passes for 34 yards for the Trojans. "It was hard for us to get into rhythm in the first half," Folsom coach Paul Doherty said. "Oak Ridge drops eight guys into coverage and got a couple sacks and got us into negative down and distance and then we also had a few uncharacteristic dropped passes. "At halftime, we just told them that we've got to play better. We've got minimal opportunities and we have to maximize those opportunities with minimal mistakes." Despite Lyons' good statistical game, he blamed himself for the team's slow first half. "We were sloppy in the first half, especially me," Lyons said. "It's kind of my first game back being healthy and I need and the team needs to play better. It was a good win, though. Everyone on this team has got a job to do and we just have to do our jobs better." Both teams now turn the page and look to next week. "We've got a tough Jesuit team next week and we've got to finish off the season strong and get ready for the postseason," Taylor said. Said Doherty to his team, "We've got to hit the road next week and play a tough Del Oro team that only lost to Oak Ridge by four points. It's going to be the same type of game as this one, a tough, physical game and we've got to match that."