Patterson overcomes Sacramento to advance to D-IV title game. Twelve Bridges awaits
It wasn’t easy. It wasn’t pretty. But the Patterson High football team will end its season where it set out to from the beginning: in the Sac-Joaquin Section championship game.
The Tigers overcame bad weather and a good Sacramento High team on Friday night, defeating the Dragons 21-12 in a Division IV semifinal in Patterson.
Second-seeded Patterson (7-5) will face undefeated and top-seeded Twelve Bridges (12-0) in the title game next Friday at 3 p.m. at Sacramento City College.
Patterson will get another shot at the school’s first section football banner after having fallen just short last season.
“It means everything,” Patterson head coach Rob Cozart said as rain fell. “We knew we were going to have a hard road to get here, to this spot. ... We knew from the get-go we were going to have a tough schedule. It only hardened us.”
The Tigers went 3-3 in the Valley Oak League, but losing to powerhouses Central Catholic, Manteca and Oakdale made them stronger.
“I told them from Day 1, you’re going to have to learn how to lose,” Cozart said. “They did that, they never wavered. 5-5 ... they still believed.”
Patterson finds a way to win
Patterson never doubted itself Friday night, despite a sluggish first half against sixth-seeded Sacramento (9-4).
Ahead just 7-6 at halftime after stopping the Dragons on a fourth-and-goal play from the 4-yard line late in the first half, the Tigers came out strong in the second half.
With their usually prolific passing game struggling in the wet and windy conditions, the Tigers rode senior running back Jeremiah Lugo (92 yards, 2 TDs) and an opportunistic defense to the win.
Junior quarterback Max Medina, already the school’s all-time leading passer, did not put up big numbers.
But with the game still in doubt with just over 9 minutes left, he found Noah Cozart slipping behind the defense. The pretty 30-yard connection extended the Patterson lead to 21-6.
“We had a vision at the start of the year,” Medina said. “We wanted to go back (to the title game) and we got it done.”
The Dragons never gave up, scoring on a 10-yard run by senior Darrius Moore with 4:49 left in the game, but a failed 2-point try left it a two-score game.
The Tigers were able to run out the clock and the celebration was on.
Missed opportunities for Sacramento
Sacramento head coach Kimbbie Drayton lamented his team’s lack of execution. The Dragons’ usually prolific run game never really got going.
“Proud of the effort, bad execution,” Drayton said. “I’m proud of my guys. They worked hard. We had a 2-8 season a couple of years ago ... to get here to 9-4 right now. They played their hearts out.”
Sacramento sophomore quarterback Le’ron James Radcliffe had an up-and-down game. He made a beautiful throw on the Dragons’ first touchdown, a 14-yard dart to Jaimeeze Clark in the first quarter.
But Radcliffe threw two interceptions in the second half that proved costly.
The Dragons also allowed Patterson to recover an onside kick.
Twelve Bridges will be a big test
The Tigers enjoyed the semifinal win. There was no mention of the challenge awaiting them in the championship game, but it won’t take the Tigers long to figure out it will be huge.
Twelve Bridges of Lincoln is 12-0, won the Foothill Valley League and has outscored its opponents 607-192.
The school also features one of the great mascots of any team in the section. The Raging Rhinos earned their spot in the title game with a 43-7 win over Placer.
Patterson lost the 2023 D-IV section title game to Escalon, 36-35.
The Tigers will do everything they can to win it this time around.
“We’re right back where we were last year,” Rob Cozart said. “Now we’ve got to finish the job.”
This story was originally published November 22, 2024 at 11:14 PM.
