Pittsburg’s Elijah Bow (25) consoles quarterback Marley Alcantara (12) after being defeated by Folsom during their NorCal Division I-A regional championship game at Folsom School in Folsom, Calif., on Saturday, Dec. 2, 2023. Folsom defeated Pittsburg 28-25. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
FOLSOM — What had been a perfect season for Pittsburg under new head coach Charlie Ramirez, one that included league and section championships and 13 victories, ended on a damp and cool Saturday night at the edge of the Sierra foothills.
One of the oldest cliches about the sport of football is it’s a game of inches.
For the visitors from the Bay Area, the axiom rung true as they watched Folsom celebrate a Northern California Division 1-A regional championship they thought would be theirs.
The home team prevailed 28-25 behind its star quarterback, sophomore Ryder Lyons, who ran for three touchdowns and passed for another.
“We knew what they were going to do; they did it,” Ramirez said. “We just shot ourselves in the foot too many times with unnecessary penalties. It was a pretty clean game overall. We forced some turnovers. We did the things we needed to do.
“When it came down the end, we couldn’t get off the field when we needed to and we had a couple of missed plays here and there or it could have been a much different outcome.”
Folsom took the lead with five minutes to play when Lyons connected with Jameson Powell from 15 yards out, a touchdown that made it 21-18.
Jamar Searcy returned the ensuing kickoff 43 yards to the Pittsburg 45.
The Pirates immediately began to march downfield as Searcy ran for 10 yards and moved the chains again with a 1-yard run to the Folsom 35.
Four snaps later, on fourth-and-8 from the 33, quarterback Marley Alcantara rolled right, tucked the ball under his arm and sprinted toward the first down marker.
“I definitely got it,” Alcantara said. “I definitely saw the marker on the ground. I know I didn’t step out of bounds. It was just a bad spot.”
The officials placed between the 35 and 36.
After the measurement went against Pittsburg, Folsom took possession and drove downfield again, benefiting from a personal foul and unsportsmanlike penalties that moved the Bulldogs to the 11.
Lyons stretched the advantage to 28-18 when he scored on a 9-yard push-the-pile run with 1:13 on the clock. Pittsburg (13-1) knocked the ball loose at the goal line and a sideline official dropped his beanbag at the 1 to signal a fumble, which the visitors recovered.
But the officials in the middle of the field ruled that Lyons crossed the goal line before he lost the ball.
The touchdown all but put the game away.
Told that Alcantara thought he got the first down when the score was 21-18, Ramirez said, “I thought so as well. It might have had a little bit of a late hit on top of that. But you can’t get all the calls. It’s a game of inches, and I think that’s what the game showed — 28 to 25. That’s what it came down to, the last couple of inches where we were on the shorter side.”
The game started for Pittsburg as perfectly as its undefeated record. The Pirates drove 73 yards in nine plays on their opening series, scoring on a 4-yard pass from Alcantara to Jadyn Hudson for a 7-0 lead.
Folsom (12-2) pulled even with 4.9 seconds left in the first quarter on a 1-yard run by Lyons, who ran for 123 yards in 27 carries and passed for 188 yards.
The home team went ahead when Lyons scored from the 4 to make it 14-7 with 6:59 to play before halftime.
“We played with a lot of passion, a lot of grit and a lot of toughness,” Lyons said. “You’re going to face some adversity. Pitt is going to make some plays. You got to get up and fight back.”
Pittsburg answered with Searcy’s 14-yard touchdown run, set up by the running back’s 27-yard run, that cut the deficit to 14-13. The PAT was blocked.
Moments later, Searcy forced a fumble that Charlie Taufa recovered, a turnover that led to Jesus Lua Amaya’s 29-yard field goal on the final snap of the first half that sent Pittsburg to the locker room in front 16-14.
Pittsburg had a chance to extend the slim lead early in the fourth quarter. But it stalled inside the 10 and its field-goal attempt was blocked.
A bobbled snap led to Japheth Tofaeono tackling Lyons in the end zone for a safety that extended the Pirates’ lead to 18-14. But that merely set the stage for the drama that ended Pittsburg’s season one victory short of playing for a state championship.
Searcy finished with 115 yards and a touchdown in 17 carries and Alcantara passed for 157 yards and two TDs to lead the Pirates.
“This is my first year being the starting quarterback and then being able to follow behind me and take my lead and being to trust me for what I do and what I see on the field — even though I make mistakes — I just love them with all my heart,” Alcantara said. “Just being able to grind every single day with these brothers, I will forever call then brothers.”
