Downey seals key win in home opener against perennial playoff qualifier
When Downey High needs to make a play, the book on them is they’ll go to the air. The spread, five-wide receiver offense has become a staple for the school on Coffee Road. So, then, why did their last pass attempt Friday night against Elk Grove catch everyone by surprise?
The set up made all the difference.
The Knights ran the same play out of the same formation multiple times throughout the game: A fake handoff to the running back with a reverse toss to a receiver running behind the line of scrimmage. Each time it went for positive yards.
So when they had the opportunity to chew some time off the clock with the ball on the 50 yard line late in a one score game, they went to that same formation. The defense, eager to make a play, sold out on the run.
That was all senior Carson Lamb needed.
On third down, the quarterback pulled out the double fake, keeping the ball and flinging it 30 yards in the air to a streaking Joseph Ramirez. Ramirez did the rest, making the uncontested catch, sprinting into the end zone. The crowd erupted as the Knights turned a 46-42 advantage into a 53-42 lead.
With 1:52 left in the game against Elk Grove (0-2), that lead was all the Knights needed. They recovered an onside kick and ran out the clock for their second win this season.
“We just said let’s keep doing it, let’s keep doing it to see if we could set them up for that play action,” Downey coach Jeremy Plaa said of running after the fake handoff. “Third-and-five is perfect … luckily both (Elk Grove) DB’s bit hard and then Jo caught it and put them away.”
Friday night was the first-ever matchup between the two schools. Both teams have long playoff histories with each making the postseason for more than 10 straight seasons.
The win moves Downey to 2-0 to start what many in the program would call the toughest non-league schedule in program history. While they hesitate to say this is the biggest game in the program’s 73-year history, the importance of this Week 2 game is not lost on them.
“We try to schedule good teams, and we obviously want to win,” Plaa said. “They’re a quality opponent, they’re in the playoffs every year and they’re a triple option team. We played a triple option team in the regular season last year, it didn’t go very well with Tracy. This year, we found a way.”
Said Lamb: “We knew it was going to be the hardest pre-season that Downey’s ever had and we knew coming into every game we’d have to prepare, get our heads focused. We knew Elk Grove was going to be a tough team and they showed they were, they battled to the end. We just came out victorious.”
Offensive versatility produces big scoring night
Lamb was once again impressive. He went 12 of 19 for 305 yards with 5 touchdowns. He completed touchdown passes to four different receivers: Ethan Woodmansee, Melo Thurman and Julius Padron each had a score and Ramirez had a pair of receptions of 50-plus yards. Lamb agreed this was the best game of his high school career
“It’s amazing knowing if one guy is double-teamed, I know that someone else can be open and we can go and score,” the quarterback said.
Defensive lineman Noah Sacuskie also got on the board with a goal-line run. The Knights pushed the ball down the field in the third quarter and the senior finished off the drive by leaping over the fighting linemen for the touchdown. Ryne Moore converted the two-point conversion to put the Knights ahead 46-42.
“I think the momentum on that punt block was huge,” Sacuskie said of the blocked punt. “If we didn’t have that, who knows where the game would be.”
Sacuskie also had a role in the Knights’ impactful first-quarter special teams touchdown. On fourth down, he broke through the line, blocking an Elk Grove punt that Woodmansee recovered in the end zone for the team’s second touchdown.
Despite Downey putting up 38 points in the first half, they led by just three.
Elk Grove and its run-first offensive attack were never out of striking distance. Quarterback David Hale rushed for a pair of touchdowns, Polo Cooper returned a kickoff for a touchdown and the Thundering Herd returned a blocked field goal for a score, scoring up 35 points after 24 minutes.
Elk Grove took its final lead at 42-38 in the third quarter before the Knights scored 14 unanswered points.
Always things to improve
Both teams will take the things they learned from Friday night through the season and into what they hope turns into deep playoff runs. Elk Grove has qualified for the postseason every year since 2011 and Downey’s streak of consecutive playoff seasons dates back to 2012.
The Knights spent most of that time in the D-II bracket, but this year will play in Division I because of logistics. If they stayed in Division II, meeting in the postseason could have been an option.
“I told their coach I have a lot of respect for them and their program,” Plaa said. “I told him the one perk of us going to D-I for the playoffs is that we don’t have to play them because that’s a lot. They’re going to just get better.”
Despite being 2-0, the difference between good and great teams is knowing the work is never done.
Plaa says he would still like to see the team improve their special teams play. They gave up a 10-point swing with the field goal returned for a touchdown and blew assignments on kickoffs that allowed a touchdown and a handful of long kick returns.
“It’s nice to get a win, but we’ve got mistakes to clean up on film,” Plaa said. “The kids will learn from those mistakes and it didn’t cost us.”
The Knights travel to Merced (1-1) next week before finishing non-league play against Amador Valley and Edison-Stockton.
Elk Grove travels to Golden Valley (0-2) in a matchup of two teams looking for their first win.
This story was originally published August 31, 2024 at 7:59 AM.
