Photos – VACAVILLE INSIDER

Big Sky makes preseason picks

Why wait until the 70th Causeway Classic in November for the Sacramento State-UC Davis rivalry to be rekindled. The Hornets and Aggies love to take advantage of every opportunity to attempt to prove which football team has the upper hand.

Sacramento State can boast about five players being named to the preseason All-Big Sky Conference team. UC Davis had four. The Aggies can counter after being picked to finish higher than the Hornets in the Big Sky coaches and media polls.

**Center** **Nathan Mejia (59) was one of five Sacramento State players named to the preseason All-Big Sky Conference team.**

UC Davis can claim it will again have the best offensive player in the Big Sky. Running back Lan Larison was the preseason pick to win the Offensive Player of the Year award for a second time. He ran for 1,101 yards and 13 touchdowns in 2023 despite missing three games with a knee injury.

Larison scored four touchdowns in the 69th Causeway Classic to lead the Aggies to a 31-21 win, their first victory against the Hornets since 2018. The 6-foot, 199-pound Larison finished his junior year with a bang, rushing for 521 yards and scoring 10 times in the final three games of the season.

The victory was not enough to qualify UC Davis for the FCS playoffs. Sacramento State made it for the fourth time in the past four seasons in which it played. The Hornets did not play in the spring of 2021 after the 2020 season was cancelled.

Sacramento State’s offensive talent was evident with wide receiver Jared Gipson, tight end Graham Kuntz, guard Jackson Slater and center Nathan Mejia being preseason All-Big Sky picks. Montana State also had four offensive players picked.

Linebacker Will Leota was the only Hornet selected on defense. The Aggies had two with defensive end Zach Kennedy and safety Rex Connors, who was the top vote-getter at defensive back. UC Davis also had a specialist in kicker Hunter Ridley.

Montana State had the most players selected with nine, including Brody Grebe as the preseason Defensive Player of the Year. Montana’s Junior Bergen scored a hat trick by being selected at wide receiver, punt returner and all-purpose player.

In the projected standings, UC Davis was picked to finish fourth and Sacramento fifth in the coaches and media polls. The Aggies received one first-place vote in both polls. Defending champion Montana was picked to finish first in both polls.

The Grizzlies received 26 of a possible 38 first-place votes in the media poll and 10 of 12 votes from the coaches. Montana State was picked to finish second and Idaho third in both polls. Montana State received first-place votes in both polls.

Four of Sacramento State’s first give games will be on the road. The Hornets open at San Jose State on Aug. 29 and then travel to Fresno State. After hosting Nicholls on Sept. 14, the Hornets will travel to Texas A&M-Commerce and Northern Arizona.

UC Davis will open at Cal on Aug. 31 in Tim Plough’s first game as the Aggies head coach. The former Aggies quarterback was the tight ends coach with the Golden Bears in 2023 and the offensive coordinator at UC Davis from 2017 to 2020.

UC Davis will host Texas A&M-Commerce on Sept. 7. The Lions will play both the Aggies and Hornets for the second consecutive season. Texas A&M-Commerce lost 48-10 at home to UC Davis and 34-6 at Sacramento State a year ago.

Little League stars in action

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Little League all-star teams from Vacaville and Dixon might avoid the heat in the Section 1 tournaments. Dixon’s 9- to 11-year-olds will play Thursday at 5:30 p.m. in American Canyon, where the temperature is not expected reach triple digits. The temperature should drop below 100 at Hall Park in Dixon on Friday when Vacaville National’s 10- to 12-year-olds play at 8 p.m.

Vacaville National bounced back from a 9-1 loss to Davis American in the District 64 tournament to claim the championship by beating Davis American twice in two days. Cruz McCoy pitched five shutout innings in a 2-0 victory June 22 and Dominic Kendrick’s two-run double capped a four-run outburst in the first inning of Vacaville National’s 5-3 win June 23.

Dixon avoided a “if necessary” game in the 9-11 tournament by beating Vacaville American 8-7 in seven innings on July 1. Vacaville American lost to Woodland National in the first round, then won two elimination games and beat Woodland National in a rematch to reach the final.

The Section 1 championship games will be 5:30 p.m. Monday for 9-11 and 7 p.m. Tuesday for 10-12.

New home, league for Mudcats

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Solano Community College will be the new home for the Solano Mudcats and their 2024 home opener is Wednesday at 5 p.m. against the Nor Cal Warriors. Playing at SCC will be nothing new for the former and current Falcons on the 37-player roster for the Mudcats. The same goes for Mudcats head coach Kyle Stafford, who is the associate head coach at SCC.

**Kevin Parker will play with the Mudcats before going to Utah Valley** **University**.

Joseph Guttmann, Kevin Parker and Connor Ross will spend the summer with the Mudcats after leading SCC to a second-place finish in the Bay Valley Conference. Ross was the BVC Player of the Year and received the Northern California Big Stick award after hitting .433 with 58 RBI.

Ross kept the Falcons in contention for second place by belting a three-run homer in the 10th inning of a 10-7 victory over Napa Valley on April 23. The Falcons swept the three-game series against the Storm to climb past Marin, which was swept by BVC champion Los Medanos.

Guttmann went 0-for-4 in the series opener, but the St. Patrick-St. Vincent High graduate was an RBI machine after that. The sophomore drove in seven runs in a 19-0 rout April 24 and set a school record with 12 RBI as SCC closed the regular season with a 21-2 win. Guttmann had nearly as many RBI in those two games than he did in the other 39 (21)

Parker and Guttmann were first- and second-team selections, respectively, in the All-BVC voting. Parker will continue his career at Utah Valley and Ross will will be swinging his bat at Cal Baptist.

The Mudcats are in a new league after leaving the California Collegiate to join the Pacific Empire along with the Humboldt Crabs, Lincoln Potters, Healdsburg Prune Packers, Medford Rogues and West Coast Kings. The Mudcats finished last a year ago n the CCL North Division at 6-29.

— The Mudcats will hold a baseball camp for players ages 6-14 on June 10-12 at Vanden High. The cost is $60 per day and $175 for the entire camp. Players must bring their own equipment. Lunch is provided each day. Click here for further information.

Softball showdown for Dixon

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Luck has turned its back on three of the five No. 1 divisional seeds in the Northern California softball playoffs. Two top seeds, St. Francis in Division I and Pleasant Valley in Division II, were knocked out in the first round. College Park drew a first-round bye as the No. 1 seed in Division IIII and lost to No. 4 Sutter on Thursday.

College Park’s departure means No. 3 Dixon, which pulled out a 3-2 win over No. 7 Capuchino on Thursday, will host the championship game at 4 p.m. Saturday. This is Dixon’s second appearance in the regional finals. The Rams were seeded No. 1 in Division IV two years ago and lost to No. 2 Monterey in the championship game.

**Felesha LePenske hustles to turn a sacrifice bunt into an infield single in Dixon’s 3-2 win Thursday.**

It was also two years ago when Sutter was the top seed in Division IV and claimed the title with a 2-1 victory over Central despite not scoring after the first inning. The Huskies did not score after the second inning Thursday in eliminating College Park to run their record to 29-0. Sutter is 86-3 since 2022.

Sutter and Dixon need to get acquainted because the Huskies are moving from the Pioneer Valley League to join the Rams in the Golden Empire. The GEL is adding Sutter, El Camino (California Athletic) and Natomas (Greater Sacramento) and losing Pioneer (Monticello Empire), Mesa Verde (Sierra Delta) and Mira Loma (Pioneer Valley).

Dixon is 22-4 and has won nine consecutive games since a 2-1 loss to Vacaville on April 24. Vacaville was seeded fifth in the section Division II playoffs and won its first two games by a combined score of 32-2 before losing 6-5 to No. 1 Tracy in 10 innings. Tracy lost to No. 7 Rocklin in the title game last Saturday.

The Rams managed just four hits Thursday, the biggest being a two-run double by Olivia Gomez with two outs in the third inning. Caitlyn Hendershot led off with a double against Capuchino’s Lola Sierra. Audrey Graham walked and Felesha LePenske hustled to turn her sacrifice bunt into an infield single to load the bases.

Sierra then walked Ashley Garcia to force in a run, but the left-hander regained her control to strike out Camryn Elliott and Emily Morris. Just when it appeared Sierra would escape the inning with minimal damage, Gomez ripped a double to right-center field to drive in Graham and LePenske. Freshman Lily Thomas relieved Sierra and got Aemonn Rosenberg to ground out to halt the three-run uprising.

The challenge for Dixon on Saturday will be trying to muster any offense against Sutter pitcher Olivia Bauer. The senior ranks second in the state with 24 victories and has an 0.63 ERA, allowing 18 runs in 134 innings. Bauer has struck out 194 and walked just 16. Those numbers led to the right-hander signing with Boise State.

Bauer is also lethal at the plate with a .457 batting average and 35 RBI. She is one of seven players with at least 30 RBI this season for Sutter, which is averaging 12 runs per game. Senior Alexa Carino is tied for fourth in the state with 57. Garcia (46) is the only Dixon player with more than 30 RBI. The Rams are averaging nine runs per game and have managed to win two regional games with a total of four.

One run was enough for Dixon to beat San Rafael on Tuesday as LePenske held the Bulldogs to one hit and struck out 12. The senior right-hander allowed seven hits and struck out four against Capuchino, which scored twice in the sixth inning to make Dixon fans a bit nervous. Their nerves will be tested again on Saturday.

No surrender for pole vaulter

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Seven boys cleared 15 feet in the pole vault at the Sac-Joaquin Section Masters meet Friday afternoon at Davis High to automatically qualify for the state championships. Gavin Miller was not one of them. The Lathrop junior wasn’t even close. The same can be said of his three attempts at the opening height of 12-6.

Miller shortened his approach from nine strides to six short steps, which allowed him to do nothing more than plant his pole and flop onto the mat. Six other boys also fell short of the opening height, including Vacaville’s Devin Hastings, but at least they became acquainted with the bar before packing their poles and leaving.

**Gavin Miller came to the Masters meet even though he stood no chance in the pole vault with a dislocated left ankle.**

The 69-mile drive from Lathrop to Davis was a waste of gas because Miller did not stand a chance. His doctor told him as much during an appointment earlier in the day. The best his doctor could offer was clearing him to walk if Miller took it easy. Trying to competing in the pole vault would certainly not rank as easy.

Miller cleared 12-7 last Friday to finish first in Division IV at the Division IV-V meet at Riverbank High. He was not satisfied with winning, however, and took a shot at 13-6. He cleared 15-3 at the Western Athletic Conference championships April 27, so he was hardly pressing his luck by going for 13-6 with nothing at stake.

“I was getting in a groove,” said Miller, who does not regret his decision to raise the bar. “Even my big pole felt small because I was having such a good day.”

**Bella Vista’s Grant Hymas was one of seven automatic state qualifiers by clearing 15 feet.**

Every attempt in the pole vault comes with an inherent risk, however. Miller can attest to that after landing awkwardly on his attempt at 13-6 and dislocating his left ankle. So can his father Justin, who was preparing for a USTAF Masters competition in 2021 when his pole came out of the box and the top end impaled him in the chest.

Miller is coached by his father, so Justin could have advised his son to play it safe after the doctor told Miller that a tendon in his ankle was “hanging by a thread.” Justin understood why his son had to go Friday. His mark of 15-3 vaulted Miller to No. 5 in the section rankings. He expected to qualify for the state championships.

Turlock’s Maxwell McFarlane cleared 16-3 to finish first Friday. Whitney’s Michael Payan and Del Oro’s Sam Peters were second and third, respectively, to qualify based on finish. Those three will be joined by four boys who cleared the automatic qualifying mark of 15 feet. Miller would have been a good bet to be the fifth.

Although disappointed, Miller now knows what it takes to compete with the elite. “You can do anything if you put your mind to it,” he said. “You have to keep going.”

His father could not be prouder. “I’ve been coaching a long time,” Justin said, “and I’ve never seen anyone as courageous as him.”

Majors so close, but yet so far

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Oklahoma City left fielder Miguel Vargas is knocked off his feet when he is hit by a pitch on his left arm in Wednesday’s 4-1 loss to Sacramento at Sutter Health Park.

Jorge Soler of the Giants and Jason Heyward of the Dodgers are spending a few days in the minors as they shake off the rust from being sidelined with injuries.

Drew Avans is greeted in the dugout after leading off with a homer for Oklahoma City. Catcher Chris Okey falls with the ball in his glove after catching a foul popup.

Oklahoma City’s Drew Pomeranz visits with his 3-year-old son Tate. A youngster joins Sacramento shortstop Donovan Walton on the field for the national anthem.

Bulldogs run out of time again

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Time turned its back on Vacaville High School Friday night in Stockton. A 38-point deficit in the third quarter took care of that, making the scoreboard operator’s job much easier because he no longer had to stop the clock with St. Mary’s on its way to a lopsided win.

The agony of such a defeat was nothing new for the Bulldogs and their supporters. Vacaville’s time in the 2022 Sac-Joaquin Section Division II playoffs was also cut short in a 42-0 loss to Manteca. The Bulldogs are 6-10 in the postseason with just one semifinal appearance in the past 12 seasons.

There is always next season, but is there any reason to believe the Bulldogs will fare much better after losing several key seniors? And to think the junior varsity team’s 10-0 finish this season will bode for a brighter future for the varsity squad is a bit of a reach.

On top of all that, Vacaville finished second in the Monticello Empire League for the first time since the MEL was realigned in 2017 after Napa and Vintage departed. The 2023 season ended abruptly with the Bulldogs having nothing to show for all their perseverance.

The varsity team ruled the roost in the MEL for six seasons even when the junior varsity did not follow suit. And replacing the likes of Cristian Diosdado, Massimo Menicou, Mills Sweany, Jemeir Buckner and Justin Albrecht could very well be a mission impossible.

Folks in Vacaville chuckled in 2021 when Vanden won the 3-AA state title because the Bulldogs pounded the Vikings 35-17. Vanden snapped Vacaville’s 28-game MEL winning streak on Oct. 6 with a 24-9 victory at Tom Zunino Stadium. The Vikings pulled off the upset with junior quarterback Kalani Mcleod throwing for 388 yards and two touchdowns.

Mcleod will return in 2024 with an opportunity to become a two-time MEL Player of the Year. Will C. Wood will also be set at quarterback with Kimani Dokes coming back as a junior. Dokes threw for 1,400 yards and rushed for 647 in his first season with the Wildcats.

Quarterback is just one of several positions the Bulldogs will have to fill. The MEL will change again when two schools (Armijo and Fairfield) leave in 2024 and three (Pioneer, River City and Sacramento) arrive. Sacramento and Pioneer made the playoffs this season in Divisions IV and V, respectively. Both teams were knocked out Friday night.

For the Bulldogs to dismiss those teams because they qualified in lower divisions would be a mistake. Vacaville fans should have learned the lesson after mocking Vanden in 2021.

Elk Grove throws out passing

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Ryan Smith coaches Vacaville High’s defensive backs, so he might as well take this week off as the Bulldogs prepare to face Elk Grove on Friday in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division II playoffs. Anyone who has followed the Bulldogs in recent seasons knows the Thundering Herd throw the ball as often as a fat guy sees his shoes.

Elk Grove’s David Hale has thrown 10 or more passes in three games this season and completed more than four just once. The junior went 9-of-12 for 67 yards and a touchdown in a 45-7 loss to San Ramon Valley on Sept. 8. That left the Thundering Herd at 1-3, but Elk Grove recovered with five consecutive wins to become eligible for the playoffs.

The section has straightened out its playoff format by using enrollment to determine which teams belong in one of the seven divisions. Teams had to win a minimum of four games to advance to the playoffs except in Division IV, which had 10 teams qualify and filled out the 12-team bracket by adding two teams based on CalPreps rankings.

Dixon and Ceres made it with 3-7 records. The ninth-seeded Rams, who started 0-5 this season, will play Rosemont in Sacramento on Friday. The winner will advance to the quarterfinals and face No. 1 Twelve Bridges in Lincoln on Nov. 10. Twelve Bridges opened in the fall of 2021.

Vacaville is the No. 9 seed in Division II and will travel to Elk Grove. This will be their fourth postseason meeting in six years. There were no playoffs three years ago when the spread of COVID-19 turned the 2020 fall season into five games in the spring of 2021.

The Bulldogs would rather not be reminded that they lost the first three playoff meetings with the Thundering Herd. The 2018 loss was respectable with Elk Grove scoring four touchdowns in the second quarter on its way to a 28-21 victory. A year later, Elk Grove ran for 392 yards and six touchdowns in a 52-29 rout. Elk Grove was 0-of-2 passing.

Elk Grove’s Ethan Archuleta did more damage with his legs than his arm in 2021. Archuleta rushed for 242 yards and three touchdowns as the Thundering Herd gained 559 yards on the ground in a 52-48 victory. Archuleta also completed one pass for 24 yards.

Quarterback Ryan Vaughan kept Vacaville in the game by going 28-of-42 for 336 yards and two touchdowns. The senior also ran for 47 yards and a score. Rare is the game in which the Bulldogs have nearly twice as many passing attempts as rushing (24).

Vacaville has had three consecutive seasons with 200 or more passing attempts. To put that in perspective, the Bulldogs had more than 150 in a season just once from 2010 to 2019. Elk Grove has not had more than 85 attempts in a season since 2016, when Jayden Machado completed 159 of 245 passes for 2,294 yards and 35 touchdowns.

Bulldogs offense has no bite

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Please contact local law enforcement if you have seen Vacaville High School’s offense. It was missing Friday night as the Bulldogs edged Rodriguez 16-14 despite scoring their fewest points in a Monticello Empire League game since 2014.

The Mustangs lost by fewer than 30 points for just the third time in 15 meetings with the Bulldogs since 2008. Vacaville had 191 yards of total offense after averaging 410 in its first 14 games against Rodriguez.

Vacaville had 139 rushing yards, failing to reach 200 for the sixth time in as many games in 2023. The Bulldogs have run for 200 just once in their past 18 games and only six times in their past 34 since 2020.

**Vacaville** **quarterback** **Brody Fortunati has had better luck handing off the ball than throwing it** **in the past five games**.

Put that in perspective. The Bulldogs rushed for 200 or more yards in 32 of their 46 games from 2016 to ’19. And running against Rodriguez has been as easy as mowing the synthetic turf in Tom Zunino Stadium.

The Bulldogs have run for 300 or more yards against the Mustangs in 10 of 15 games and reached 400 six times. Friday’s game was the third in a row that Rodriguez held Vacaville to fewer than 200.

It is hard to believe the Mustangs have finally figured out how to stop the Bulldogs. No MEL team has had success containing Vacaville’s offense even when the Bulldogs were as predictable as the sun rising.

Quarterback Brody Fortunati has struggled since passing for 321 yards and four touchdowns in the opener against Davis. The senior has thrown for a total of 303 yards and three touchdowns in the past five games. He completed six of a season-low 13 attempts for 52 yards and a touchdown on Friday night.

Vacaville has invested considerable time to diversify its offense and the past two seasons suggest as much. The Bulldogs threw the ball 227 times in 2022 and 251 in ’21, the only seasons in the past 10 in which when they reached 200.

From 2013 to ’19, the Bulldogs had at least 300 more rushing attempts than passing in six of seven seasons. The ground game became the team’s trademark when the Bulldogs won Sac-Joaquin Section championships in 2007 (572 rushing attempts to 111 passing) and 2011 (666 rushing to 128 passing).

A run heavy offense has one drawback in that a double-digit deficit will be difficult to overcome because running plays take more time. That explains why a team leading in a game will run to drain the clock.

This season is ticking away for the Bulldogs. They must find and define their offense before time runs out.

Football forecast for Week 2

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Clay Ford is straightforward when he speaks and carries the football. That was evident last Friday when the Will C. Wood High School senior had 22 carries for 92 yards in his first varsity start at running back as the Wildcats pulled out a 19-8 victory over Dixon.

His running style will never be described as flashy. Ford takes a handoff from quarterback Kimani Dokes and runs to the designated hole. If the hole is plugged, Ford lowers his shoulders and plows ahead for whatever he can get.

**Colby Ford rushed for 92 yards on 22 carries in Wood’s 19-8 victory over Dixon last Friday.**

Ford’s longest run against the Rams was 11 yards. Eight of his carries were for 3 or fewer yards. What matters to offensive coordinator Nick Voight was Ford did not lose a single yard on any carry. Ford also did not have one carry in which he was stopped for no gain.

His remarks after the game were just as straightforward when asked how Wood took control of the game. Dixon scored its only touchdown with 6:08 to go in the first quarter. Wood’s Josiah Chavez returned the ensuing kickoff 92 yards, but two penalties wiped out the touchdown. Wood did not flinch and drove 90 yards in 12 yards to score.

A fake PAT failed, leaving the Wildcats with an 8-6 deficit, but Ford was not concerned. “After that,” he said, “we knew we could handle them.”

Ford will get more opportunities to run tonight when Wood hosts Sacramento. The Dragons, who will join the Monticello Empire League in 2024, blew a 27-0 lead last Friday at Rodriguez in a 43-33 loss. Sacramento has a talented back in Lamar Radcliffe, who has committed to Utah, but he gained just 55 yards on 10 carries against the Mustangs.

The 6-foot-2, 225-pound Radcliffe ran for 2,109 yards and 23 touchdowns as a sophomore, but he missed last season after tearing two knee ligaments.

Vacaville, Vacaville Christian and Vanden also have home games tonight. Dixon will travel to Winters. Here is a look at each of those contests.

Vacaville vs. Sheldon: The Huskies belong to the Elk Grove Unified School District even though the school has a Sacramento address. That explains why the Huskies had two passing attempts last Friday in a 26-7 victory over Capital Christian.

There must be an ordinance in Elk Grove that prohibits throwing the ball more than five times a game. Elk Grove had a total of five passing attempts in playoff victories over Vacaville in 2019 and 2021. Then again, the Thundering Herd could afford to pass on passing by running for a total of 951 yards and 13 touchdowns in those two games.

Vacaville Christian vs. Delta: The Saints are hardly what they were in the 1970s. Delta dominated the old Superior California Athletic League in those days with three future NFL players: quarterback Tony Eason, safety Bo Eason and offensive lineman Dan McQuaid. Delta routed San Juan 50-0 last week, while Vacaville Christian lost 52-0 at Redding Christian.

Vanden vs. Campolindo: The Cougars, who did not play last week, are rebuilding after losing their quarterback, top four rushers and top receiver to graduation. Campolindo has two solid receivers in seniors Steve Lyon and Tim Daugherty. Lyon caught 46 passes for 457 yards and four touchdowns in 2022. Daughtery added 33 receptions for 567 yards and six scores.

Dixon at Winters: The Rams squandered a scoring opportunity in the second quarter last Friday after reaching Wood’s 15-yard line. A 2-yard run was followed by Dixon being penalized for illegal procedure. Quarterback Easton Valenzuela dropped back to pass on second-and-13 at the 18, was sacked by Kevin Butters and fumbled. Jamir Collins recovered for the Wildcats.