Is this the year Oak Ridge football finally beats Folsom?

The Abridged version:

• Oak Ridge plays host to Folsom on Friday in a showdown that is drawing national attention.
• Folsom has a 25-game, 19-year winning streak over the Trojans.
• The matchup includes the top two teams in Joe Davidson’s Sac-Joaquin Section high school football rankings.

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Casey Taylor describes this as a hurdle that can be cleared and must be cleared.

The aim for the head football coach of the Oak Ridge Trojans of El Dorado Hills remains fixed: become a CIF championship program at the Sac-Joaquin Section and state levels. And more: take on all-comers in and out of state, and devour the obstacles that stand in the way of the grand prize.

This task especially includes solving the Folsom Bulldogs, who stand as the top high school football program in the section, which includes the greater Sacramento region. Folsom’s trophy case is full. There are 12 section plaques and accompanying blue banners with Folsom’s name displayed prominently on the goods, all amassed since 2010. And there are six CIF state hardware pieces in that span. 

Ranked second in our JoeD Top 25 Abridged by PBS KVIE section rankings, Oak Ridge hosts top-ranked Folsom on Friday night in a Sierra Foothill League tilt that has drawn national attention. This will be the MaxPreps National Game of the Week. So yeah, it’s a big deal. 

And there’s a big winning streak on hand that adds to the intrigue. Folsom has remarkably beaten Oak Ridge 25 consecutive times over a 19-year stretch. That includes league games and each of the past four section Division I title games. Some games have gone down to the wire. Some were played in hot weather or in fog so dense, you could not see the far end of the field, or much of the field at all.

The road to a league title

Taylor and the current Trojans don’t burden this streak alone. But they feel it, and they want to throw a wrench and a blocking sled into Folsom’s run. They want nothing more than to celebrate on their home turf late Friday night.

“My goal when coming here was winning a section championship and a state championship,” Taylor said. “But it starts with winning a league championship. In the weight room, you can see that we haven’t won a league championship since 2009.”

Folsom has won the SFL, the best league in Northern California in recent years, 12 times since 2014. The Bulldogs are riding a 25-game SFL winning streak (and 80 of the last 82 SFL games). Folsom is also on a 19-game winning streak after going 14-1 last season and 7-0 this fall. Oak Ridge is 4-2, with both losses coming to powerhouse programs from out of area.

Taylor is a championship coach by any measure, having won section and CIF state championship hardware at Del Oro in Placer County, where he won 149 of his 225 career games. He is in his sixth season as coach of his alma mater, and he was so loyal to his high school program from his time there in the late 1980s that he had an ax tattooed on his lower leg. That ink has faded, and who knows? Someday, Taylor may add some body ink that includes a CIF state emblem. 

In his quest to elevate Oak Ridge, Taylor serves as head coach of the Oak Ridge freshmen, junior varsity and varsity teams, an effort to accelerate the learning of blocking, tackling and team work. 

Folsom is the team to beat

Folsom has been the region’s top dog and team seemingly every season since 2010. Oak Ridge has been the area’s second best team for a lot of those years. The Trojans want to be the top dog.

Oak Ridge won its last section crown in 2019, under coach Eric Cavaliere, now the school’s athletic director. But Oak Ridge did not face Folsom in those playoffs. Cavaliere, the school’s winningest football coach, did not get his slice of glory in beating Folsom. It still pains him. Folsom that season was upended by Monterey Trail in the section semifinals. 

Folsom coach Paul Doherty heaps praise on Oak Ridge, calling the football program “great.” He’s mindful of what looms, imploring players in practice this week to be ready. As much as Taylor relishes game day, the schematics and chess-match duel, Doherty dreads it.

He especially appreciates weight-training sessions and practices, as well as coaching games at the youth levels with the Folsom Junior Bulldogs. Doherty said Folsom is a “K through 12 program,” meaning football at the youth level is a big deal in town, from the little guys all the way through high school and the 12th grade. 

“Paul is a bundle of nerves during games,” Folsom principal Howard Cadenhead said with a laugh. “He cares a ton, but he hates game day. I tell him he has to find more enjoyment in this.”

Doherty also has said that Folsom is “a destination school,” meaning students transfer in to play sports, including football. Oak Ridge has also been a destination school of sorts over the years, too, for its superb menu of athletics and extra-curricular events on campus.

“We teach AP (Advanced Placement) football here,” Cadenhead said. “Kids want to be part of our community here, and not just for sports.”

A championship run begins

Folsom’s championship run since 2010 started under previous coaches Troy Taylor and Kris Richardson, and Doherty mentions those all-time great coaches often in being mindful of who built this program. In the 2000s, it was at times difficult for Folsom to even win back-to-back games.

Doherty took over before the 2019 season and has won each of the last five section Division I titles, three Northern California championships and two CIF state crowns, including last season. 

Along the way, people have wondered how genuine Folsom’s football efforts have been. The program has been accused by other coaches, players, fans and prep football followers of bending rules on transfers and of recruiting players in and out of state. No coaches ever want to go on the record. Taylor doesn’t talk about it. His focus is on his program. But he has had assistant coaches in the past who accused Folsom of all sorts of things. They never wanted to go on the record.

The governing body California Interscholastic Federation – or the CIF – encourages school administrators to send any legitimate paper work or proof of undue recruiting influence or any rules violations. Nothing concrete has come forward. The CIF does not have time to pursue rumor, speculation and spite, but the CIF will drop the hammer on a program if there is evidence of wrong-doing. It’s happened to Southern California teams. 

Taylor faced the same sort of heat when he was rolling along at Del Oro. Same results: More talk than substance. 

“We don’t have to recruit and we don’t,” said Cadenhead, the Folsom principal. “You build it, and people show up. People repeat false information. It doesn’t bother me. For any varsity transfer coming in, we will go door-to-door as administrators to make sure that student lives where the paperwork says they live. We take this seriously.”

Oak Ridge faced the same sort criticism when the program won scores of section Division II titles in the 2000s under then-coach Chris Jones. The region’s Player of the Decade for the 2000s was an Oak Ridge player – Austin Collie. The complaints then are similar to what successful programs across the state face now. Are the players homegrown? What’s up with the transfers?

Oak Ridge teams soldiered on then, much like Folsom now.

Solving the Bulldogs

Back to Taylor. How do you beat Folsom? 

You don’t have to recreate the offense and get tricky, the Oak Ridge coach said. But being bold helps.

“We’re not afraid to get in a track meet with them,” the coach said. “We’ve got to execute. Play clean football. Play physical. We don’t think about the streak. We focus on ourselves.”

But make no mistake. If Oak Ridge wins on Friday, players will celebrate. Coaches will celebrate. Students will rush the field. It’ll be that sort of celebration.