Sac-Joaquin Section: Elk Grove pays back Jesuit with 34-21 victory

ELK GROVE, Calif. — A year ago when these Delta League rivals met, it was a prolific game but an otherwise maddening one for the Elk Grove Thundering Herd.

On Friday night in southern Sacramento County, revenge was sweet.

Ranked 13th by SBLive, Elk Grove thundered to a 28-7 lead and then salted it away with a time-consuming, back-breaking drive behind its massive offensive line and fleet of runners to beat No. 10 Jesuit-Carmichael, 34-21. That clinched at least a share of the Delta League championship for the storied Thundering Herd.

Jesuit won the Delta last fall on the strength of a 70-35 victory over Elk Grove.

"It's been awhile!," Elk Grove's star lineman Simi Pale said, referring to that outcome that suddenly now seems gone forever. "Great win for us."

And a great win for Elk Grove's bevy of backs that expertly ran the flex-bone offense, otherwise known as the triple-option. Quarterback David Hale rushed for 91 yards and also fired touchdown strikes of 7 yards to Dylan Archuleta and 11 yards to Niko Perez to lead the way.

Elk Grove entered the season not sure what it had at quarterback. Now it knows. The offense is in the hands of the impressive sophomore, whose father, also David Hale, was a star quarterback for Valley-Sacramento for a 12-1 team in 1995.

"I love being an option quarterback," Hale said. "Being the new guy wasn't easy, and the role isn't easy, but I love it. It's a hell of a time when it's all working, but I couldn't do it without the Hammerheads on the line. They're my best friends. I need to take them out to lunch."

Elk Grove capitalized on two early Jesuit turnovers to take a 14-0 lead. Mason Vasquez opened the scoring with a 19-yard touchdown run and he finished the scoring with a 7-yard score with 1:25 to play to deny the Marauders a shot at a Delta repeat.

Vasquez rushed for 111 yards and Jeremiah Rosales scooted for 110 yards for the surging Herd, who won their fifth consecutive game. Wayshawn Parker had a 3-yard touchdown run for ElK Grove and also had three long kickoff returns, and he made stops on defense.

Anthony Seibles scored on runs of 3 and 4 yards for Jesuit (7-2, 4-1). Elk Grove (6-3, 4-0) can clinch the Delta outright with a regular-season ending win over Franklin-Elk Grove, and then it would enter the Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs in the Division I field, one that would include favorites Folsom and St. Mary's-Stockton. Elk Grove won the Division II section championship in 2019.

"I'm ecstatic," Elk Grove coach John Heffernan said. "We've come a long way as a team. Great effort."

Here are photos from Friday night's game in Elk Grove:

Video and photos by Ralph Thompson