Trojans finish season with big win over Rocklin, 34-14

It's been a long football season, but Oak Ridge High finished with three straight wins and earned the No. 2 seed in the Division I playoff bracket, right where they've been the last several years. Despite major injuries, the Trojans still managed to play well enough to earn that No. 2 seed behind only Folsom. "No doubt about it, we're thrilled to get the No.2 seed," Oak Ridge coach Casey Taylor said. "Grant won a league title and we didn't but we were higher than them in every other category. I'm glad the section did the right thing and treated our league with respect and our strength of schedule. The only thing wrong with the No. 2 seed is now we've got to play a traditionally rich Central Catholic team, who we beat a few years ago; they're going to want to come up here and get a win. Then if we're lucky enough to win that one, we will probably play Grant, who's obviously another tough team before we'd get another shot at Folsom. "We're going to spend some extra time in the weight room this week. We're happy to be at home; we don't lose much here and we hope to take advantage of our home field." The Trojans are coming off a big 34-14 win over Rocklin on Friday in what was not only the last regular-season game, but also the school's Homecoming game, not to mention the fact that it was played on Halloween night. "You kind of worry about the game with it being Homecoming and Halloween, there's a lot going on," Taylor said. "We do a lot of stuff off the field with Rocklin so there's a lot of competition and mutual respect there. We just came out and set the tone with a good start and were able to dictate the pace of the game. When we get off to a good start and don't turn the ball over, that's been a great formula for us." Oak Ridge scored on its first possession, Jasen Womack scoring one of his three touchdowns on a short run. After holding the Thunder and forcing a punt, the Trojans got the first of two field goals from Kyle Boeker to take a 10-0 lead. Braxton Martinez followed with a touchdown catch on a screen play and the Trojans had a 17-0 lead. Both teams scored once before halftime, as Reeve Slone threw a touchdown pass to Greyson Smith for the Thunder before Womack's second touchdown run. Boeker kicked his second field goal in the third quarter before Womack scored a defensive touchdown on a pick-six. Rocklin ended the scoring with a second Slone-to-Smith touchdown pass. The win was the third straight for the Trojans. "We were banged up heading into the Jesuit game and were banged up even more after it," Taylor said. "We were like in crisis mode, where do we go from here? It's not like you get a week off in the SFL. To finish the season with probably our best game of the year in terms of our line play up front was really good." The Trojans have a long list of players that they hope to get back for their game against Central Catholic. While big names like Isaac Pierce, who's out for the season, Javon Joseph and Brayden Molloy will likely not be ready, guys like Chris McGill, Tyler Andujar and Ethan Quan may return along with a couple other players who have been our injured for a few weeks now.