Amador tops Bradshaw Christian for first section football title

Amador High School won its first Sac-Joaquin Section football championship with a convincing 30-7 victory over previously unbeaten Bradshaw Christian on Saturday afternoon in the Division VI final at Lincoln High’s Spanos Stadium.

“We were just trying to get a playoff victory to begin with,” said Buffaloes coach Bill Baker, in his eighth season as head coach in Sutter Creek. “This group of guys has just challenged themselves every week and found a way to get through our challenging (Mother Lode) league.

“But this is huge for our community; never been to this place before and I’m really proud of my kids with the class that they’ve shown and the hard work they’ve put in,” he added.

The top-seeded Buffaloes (12-1), making their first appearance in a section championship game, entered the contest with a plus-21 turnover margin. They would increase that to plus-24 by the time the game was over, recovering four Bradshaw Christian fumbles and committing one of their own.

“That just comes from effort, guys getting after it and playing hard,” said Baker, who hadn’t won a playoff game in five previous postseason appearances before this season. “Our kids just do it every week; that’s why we’re here today.”

After a scoreless first quarter, Amador got on the board first when Daylan Thetford scored from 39 yards out with 12:09 remaining in the first half.

Bradshaw Christian coughed up the football on the ensuing kickoff and the Buffaloes recovered on the Pride’s 14. Two plays later, with 9:42 to play in the first half, Anthony Burns busted in from the 12 to make it 14-0 after Juan Herrera’s second PAT.

Bradshaw Christian halved the lead about two minutes later when Mateo Bromstead broke free and scored from 69 yards.

On the opening possession of the second half, Bradshaw Christian faced fourth and 7 from its 32 and, curiously, opted to go for it, down one score. The Pride picked up only 3 yards and Amador took over downs.

Thetford made Bradshaw Christian pay when he scored from 9 yards to make it 21-7 with 5:19 left in the third quarter.

“Hey, I’m never going to challenge a coach’s decision to do anything,” said Baker. “(Drew Rickert), he’s here to win. That’s what they’re about. So, it ended up working out for us tonight but they’ve got a quality club and he’s trying to win a ballgame.”

The Pride came back with a promising drive on their next possession, but a fumble was pounced on by Andrew Keeter on Amador’s 43 with 1:45 to play in the third quarter. Though the Buffaloes were unable to score, the turnover halted any momentum Bradshaw Christian was gathering.

Just 49 seconds into the fourth quarter, Bradshaw Christian again opted to go for it on fourth down, this time facing fourth and 14 from its 29.

The Pride gained 10 but again gave Amador a short field with 11:01 left, which led to Herrera’s 37-yard field goal with 7:30 to play.

On the ensuing possession, the Pride gave up the ball at their own 14, but two holding penalties pushed the Buffs out of scoring range. They punted, but the Pride would eventually fumble in their own end zone and Keeter was there to pounce on the ball for six points and the final margin.

“The Mother Lode League is a grind,” Baker said of his conference, which produced five playoff teams. “We have quality teams, great coaches in that league. So, it prepared us for these types of moments.”

This story was originally published November 26, 2016 at 5:58 PM with the headline "Amador tops Bradshaw Christian for first section football title."