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 High School couldn’t find the kicking tee on the sideline.

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

It was one of the few things that went wrong for the Knights on Saturday as they dominated Big Valley Christian 69-0 at Alex G. Spanos Stadium to win a second consecutive Sac-Joaquin Section Division VII championship.

“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 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 two minutes left in the game.

However, Magana was sacked on the final three plays as Stone Ridge Christian completed its 10th consecutive shutout to break the state record for 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 total yards.

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 over the ball on downs on the first possession of the game, they drove 42 yards on four plays with Shane Casillas breaking free on third down for a 22-yard touchdown run to give Stone Ridge a 7-0 lead.

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

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

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

“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 scored on long runs in the third quarter to extend the lead to 63-0. Joseph Amaral added the final touchdown on a three-yard run in the fourth quarter.

The Knights didn’t throw a pass. They totaled 371 rushing yards on 18 plays. Rees led the way with 161 yards on seven carries. Collazo had 118 yards on four carries, and Casillas had 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-Clarksburg and then had 6-foot-7 tight end Daniel Giannosa break an ankle in practice Tuesday.

“We lost our two best receivers,” Lions coach Tim Giannosa said. “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 will play Mission of San Francisco on Saturday at Castle Field in a NorCal play-in game.

“This is really special,” Hooker said as he held the blue section 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 5:58 PM with the headline "Stone Ridge Christian defends Division VII section football title, sets state shutout record."