Turnovers plague Golden Valley in first-round playoff loss to Sacramento
The Golden Valley High football team saw its season come to an end with a 41-19 loss to Sacramento Charter High in the first round of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division III playoffs on Saturday afternoon at Rosemont High in Sacramento.
The Dragons had three interceptions in the first half as Damarion Taylor, Terance Williams Jr. and Keimari Benjamin all stole the ball from the No. 11 seeded Cougars (4-6).
Golden Valley started off the scoring as quarterback Eleazar Garza connected with Jonah White for a 9-yard touchdown to give GV a 7-0 lead on the Cougars’ opening drive.
Then the Dragons (9-2) took control.
Sacramento responded with the Cougars’ opening score with a grinding 18-play, 76-yard drive featuring 13 runs by sophomore Lamar Radcliffe, who went 1 yard on the last play for a touchdown.
Benjamin then scored on a pick-six to give Sacramento a 14-7 lead.
After a Golden Valley three-and-out, Sacramento quarterback Naaman Branyan hit Devin Stephens on a 73-yard bomb for a 21-7 lead.
Garza pulled the Cougars within 21-13 after a 5-yard touchdown run with 5:57 left in the first half.
Branyan threw for 187 yards and two touchdowns while also running for a score to lead Sacramento. Branyan’s second touchdown pass gave the Dragons a 28-13 lead at the half.
Golden Valley running back Jabari Phillips scored on a 5-yard touchdown run to pull the Cougars’ within 28-19 with 3:09 left in the third quarter, but that was as close as the Cougars would get.
The Dragons tacked on two fourth-quarter touchdowns to pull away late.
Sacramento will advance to face No. 3 Manteca on Friday.
