SCORING SUMMARY
Ripon Christian 6 12 0 0 — 18
Sonora 14 21 14 7 — 56
First quarter
S — Tommy Sutton 29 run (Rigo Estrella kick), 10:14.
S — Sutton 32 run (Estrella kick), 7:21.
R — Carson Cho 4 run (kick failed), 0:47.
Second quarter
R — Mason Tameling 1 run (run failed), 9:08.
S — Cash Byington 54 pass from Eli Ingalls (Estrella kick), 7:07.
S — Brody Speer 80 run (Estrella kick), 3:49.
S — Speer 13 run (Estrella kick), 0:33.
R — Daniel Lambdin 96 kickoff return (pass fail), 0:20.
Third quarter
S — Byington 12 run (Estrella kick), 6:29.
S — Byintgon 9 pass from Ingalls (Estrella kick), 2:20.
Fourth quarter
S — Ingalls 20 run (Estrella kick), 9:04.
SACRAMENTO — Ripon Christian battled the defending champion early, but top-seeded Sonora eventually wore the injury-depleted Knights down and came away with a 56-18 for the Sac-Joaquin Section Division VI football title at Hughes Stadium on Saturday.
“We thought we had a pretty good game plan,” Ripon Christian coach Phil Grams said. “But it revolved around No. 7 (Mason Tameling) and No. 4 (Amos Cady), with Mason and Amos
carrying the load. And when both of those guys went down, yeah, we had other guys left on the team, but the whole game plan was set around those two guys.
“Our guys came to fight. We said it was a different time, different day, different place, and you can tell we came to fight, but we ran out of bullets at the end.”
With its top running back, Tommy Sutton (14 carries, 138 yards), scoring two long touchdowns on his first three touches, Sonora (13-0) looked like it was on its way to a romp.
The No. 3 Knights (10-3) had other ideas. Trailing 14-0 with 7:21 left in the first quarter, Tameling (6-of-12 passing, 70 yards; 14 carries, 46 yards, touchdown) directed a 14-play, 80-yard scoring drive capped by Carson Cho’s 4-yard touchdown run.
Talen Tameling recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff, which gave the Knights a short porch at the 29-yard line. Eight plays later, Mason Tameling snuck the ball in from the 1-yard line to draw Ripon Christian within 14-12.
The Wildcats posted the next three scores, including a 54-yard pass from Eli Ingalls (7-of-7 passing, 166 yards, three touchdowns) to Cash Byington (three receptions, 84 yards, two touchdowns; seven carries, 52 yards, touchdown).
After that second Sonora touchdown, the Knights were driving when Mason Tameling was drilled on the sideline and forced to leave the game. He did not return.
Ripon Christian had one arrow left in the quiver.
With 20 seconds left in the first half Daniel Lambdin returned a kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown to narrow the game to 35-18 at halftime. Lambdin returned the second-half kickoff 45 yards, but the Knights went four-and-out and never again mounted an attack.
“We have really smart football players,” Sonora coach Kirk Clifton said. “You don’t get that all the time. They play extremely hard and they have a ton of grit. They live it every day. They are a special group.”
Aaron Van Hofwegen led Ripon Christian with seven tackles. Maxx Anderson added six stops, Chase Bunnell (fumble recovery) five with four each for Lambdin, Jackson Howell, Stadtler Postma and Blake Stuit.
