Stone Ridge Christian defends Division VII section football title, sets state shutout record

Bryce Louters scored so fast, returning an interception for a touchdown in the first quarter, that Stone Ridge Christian couldn’t find the kicking tee on the sideline.

Louters, who doubles at the Knights’ kicker, was forced to attempt the extra point by kicking the ball off the ground. The Stone Ridge Christian sophomore missed the kick wide left.

It was one of the few things that went wrong for the Knights on Saturday as they dominated Big Valley Christian in winning a second consecutive Sac-Joaquin Section Division VII championship with a 69-0 victory at Alex G. Spanos Stadium. (see video highlights)

“This is what we’ve worked for,” said Stone Ridge Christian coach Art De Jager, whose team improved to 11-1. “This is why we put in all the hard work, all the reps, all the hours, all the blood, sweat and tears. It doesn’t get better than this.”

The only drama was whether Stone Ridge Christian would finish off another shutout when Big Valley Christian quarterback Noah Magana completed a 31-yard pass to Joshua Camoirano to move the Lions to the Knights’ 41-yard line with 2 minutes left in the game.

However, Magana was sacked on the final three plays of the game as Stone Ridge Christian finished off its 10th consecutive shutout this season to break a state record for most consecutive shutout victories in a season, which was set by Chico in 1928.

“It’s pretty big,” said Stone Ridge Christian defensive end Mark Hooker, who recorded five sacks. “We wanted the state record. Coming in we’re thinking we don’t want them to score.”

The Knights defense was relentless, harassing Magana all game and sacking him 11 times. The Lions ran 39 plays in the first half and were limited to 70 yards of offense.

Meanwhile, Stone Ridge Christian ran just 10 offensive plays in the first half and scored five touchdowns while racking up 190 yards.

After the Knights forced Big Valley Christian (10-3) to turn the ball over on downs on the first possession of the game, they drove 42 yards on just four plays with Shane Casillas breaking free on a third-down run for a 22-yard touchdown to give SRC a 7-0 lead with 8:03 left in the first quarter.

It was the only third-down play the Knights would have in the game.

Their scores the rest of the first half came on one-play, Louters’ 47-yard interception return, two-play, two-play and one-play drives.

Jonathan Collazo scored on touchdown runs of 53, and 22 yards and Austin Rees broke free for touchdown runs of 25 and 42 to give the Knights a 42-0 lead at the half.

“It’s all about the O-line,” De Jager said. “A lot of people talk about our running backs. We have three good running backs and not to take anything away from those guys, but a big reason they are what they are is because of the holes our O-line opens.”

The onslaught continued in the second half as Rees, Collazo and Casillas all scored on long runs in the third quarter to extend the lead to 63-0. Joseph Amaral added the final touchdown on a 3-yard run in the fourth quarter.

The Knights didn’t throw a pass in the game. They finished with 371 rushing yards on 18 plays. Rees led the way with 161 yards on seven carries. Collazo finished with 118 yards on four carries and Casillas added 89 yards on six rushes.

“It’s amazing to repeat,” Collazo said. “It feels awesome.”

It was a tough week for the Lions, who lost receiver Alex Butler to an injury in last week’s 14-6 win over Delta and then had 6-foot-7 tight end Daniel Giannosa break an ankle in practice on Tuesday.

“We lost our two best receivers,” said Lions coach Tim Giannosa. “That made it tough and Stone Ridge is playing some good football. It was a fun journey. We worked hard to get where we got. It was a great season.”

The Knights season will continue. Stone Ridge Christian now will wait to find out if they have to play a play-in game for a NorCal Regional Bowl.

“This is really special,” said Hooker as he was holding the section blue banner. “Being a senior, I never thought I’d get an opportunity like this. It’s awesome.”

This story was originally published November 28, 2015 at 5:59 PM with the headline "Stone Ridge Christian defends Division VII section football title, sets state shutout record."