Pioneer junior working again Prince Flores breaks a deal with throughout a 17-13 win in opposition to Dixon on Friday, Oct. 13 in Woodland. (Shaun Holkko/Daily Democrat)
In a sport marred by spooky penalty flags, the Pioneer High School varsity soccer group overcame the whistles on Friday the thirteenth to stay undefeated in Golden Empire League play.
The Patriots (6-2, 3-0 GEL) beat the Rams (2-6, 2-1) of Dixon by a closing rating of 17-13 on Homecoming weekend in Woodland.
“We had good blocking up front, it was a dog fight til the end and we got the dub,” stated junior working again Landon Dahler. “The energy was high the whole game. The defense stepped up and offense did their job.”
The victory units up a street matchup subsequent week versus the Rams of Orangevale with GEL championship implications on the road. Across city on Friday night, Casa Roble (7-1, 3-0) received 68-22 at Woodland (0-8, 0-3). However, it ought to be famous that the winless Wolves trailed the Rams 22-16 halfway by way of the second quarter.
“They’ve got a frickin’ spectacular team! They have big dreams of section playoffs, state championship type stuff and they’re that good, they’re legit,” coach Matt Bryson stated about Casa Roble. “We’re going to have to play our A-game, have some things go our way and we’ll see what happens.”
Back at Pioneer, the Patriots efficiently pounded the rock on their first drive. The old saying goes, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” and Pioneer employed that technique on Friday evening. The Patriots ran the ball 46 instances and amassed 250 yards, led by their RB duo.
“Offensively we were able to run the ball,” Bryson recalled. “Dahler and Prince ran hard tonight, that front was tough.”
Dahler tallied a game-high with 195 yards speeding on 36 carries. Junior Prince Flores contributed 7 rushes for 43 yards and a landing. Like a real tag group, Dahler obtained Pioneer into the purple zone on its opening drive with an 18-yard run to arrange his associate.
The Fresh Prince of Woodland rushed 3 yards up the intestine and into the top zone for the tuddy. Junior kicker Tiburcio Silva nailed the purpose after attempt to give the Patriots a 7-0 lead with 8:30 left within the first interval. The GEL foes exchanged punts, then the Rams tied the sport on their second drive.
On fourth-and-5, Dixon senior quarterback Easton Valenzuela linked with senior broad receiver Leo Iglesias for an 18-yard landing. Senior Okay Marcos Gregorio transformed the PAT with 1:54 remaining within the first quarter to to tie the sport at 7 a chunk, which was the rating after one interval.
Pioneer was compelled to punt on its subsequent drive however rapidly obtained the ball again following a turnover. Flores compelled a fumble at midfield and it was recovered by senior linebacker Lloyd Ruiz on the Patriots 46-yard line.
Dahler methodically rushed Pioneer into Rams territory and down the sphere. He was introduced down by his face masks on one of many performs, advancing the Patriots into the purple zone. Pioneer immediately snapped the ball to Dahler a number of instances, however Dixon saved him out of the top zone.
Junior QB Martin Bartz capped off the drive together with his legs. On fourth-and-goal from the 2-yard line, Bartz snuck in for the rating, receiving a tush push from Dahler to get him throughout the objective line. The further level by Silva was good to offer the Patriots a 14-7 benefit with 5:59 left within the second quarter.
Bartz had extra yards speeding than passing in opposition to the Rams. He had 3 carries for 12 yards and a landing. The junior accomplished 2-of-8 passes for 11 yards and an interception. Ruiz had 1 catch for 9 yards.
The Rams subsequent drive was kick-started by a roughing the passer penalty on Pioneer. Dixon reached the 1-yard line with consecutive 23-yard passes to Iglesias and senior WR Alijah Montgomery. Valenzuela scored on his personal QB sneak from a yard out. Gregorio’s PAT was blocked and the Patriots maintained the lead with 3:45 remaining within the second interval.
Over the subsequent 3 minutes, Pioneer drove into the Rams purple zone. Bartz focused senior WR Haiden Aletto in the correct nook of the top zone however was picked off by Iglesias with 47 seconds left within the first half. The play was initially deemed an incompletion however was later overturned and dominated a turnover.
Ruiz obtained revenge for his QB earlier than halftime and intercepted Valenzuela with 1 second remaining within the second quarter. The Patriots led 14-13 at halftime. The senior Class of 2024 had been named winners of the Homecoming float contest.
Dixon went three-and-out in 66 seconds to begin the third interval. Pioneer superior to the Rams 11-yard line after Dahler was tackled by the horse-collar. The Patriots reached fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line after two runs from Dahler.
Dahler rushed to the left into the top zone on second-and-goal however the landing was negated by a holding penalty on Pioneer. After two incomplete throws from Bartz, the Patriots had been compelled to kick a discipline objective. Silva knocked it by way of from 29 yards out with 7:02 left within the third interval to make the rating 17-13.
The sport’s closing 19 minutes had been overshadowed by numerous penalties on each groups.
“It was a slugfest and we were our own worst enemy,” Byson stated. “I don’t know what the total was on penalties, but we had a ton of yards penalized. Our effort was there throughout and we competed. You can’t take that from them. We beat a team that we haven’t been able to beat in two years, it’s a big win. Dixon is so well coached. They compete, they’re tough, Wes (Besseghini) does a good job.”
With the win, Pioneer defeats Dixon for the primary time since 2020 after 6- and 3-point losses in back-to-back seasons.
“It feels amazing. Last year I was on varsity and didn’t play well. This year I stepped up a little bit better and got the win,” Dahler defined. “Personally, I could’ve played better but I played to my best and in the end got the dub, so that’s all that matters.”
Ruiz led the way in which on protection with 8 tackles, 1 interception and 1 fumble restoration.
“Honestly, it feels really good. Actually the last time that we played (Dixon) here was our HoCo game. It felt really great to beat them on HoCo so I’m proud of my team,” Ruiz recalled. “HoCo is another celebration, a lot more people come out to watch our school. It’s more pressure with more people watching.”
Senior defensive lineman Francisco Romero III recorded 7 tackles and 1 sack. Flores added 6 tackles and a compelled fumble. Sophomore LB Max Pineda tallied 2 tackles and 1 sack.
“Prince played linebacker for the first time and he played extremely well, I’m proud of him,” Ruiz stated. “Our running backs, Prince again and Landon Dahler, they both did good. The O-line was able to open up stuff so we could get first downs and the win.”
The Patriots shared a GEL championship with Dixon in 2021 however haven’t received the league outright since 2005. With a win at Casa Roble on Friday in Orangevale, Pioneer can be one step nearer to Golden Empire glory. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
“Number one, we have to play well and just do the basic things. You have to take care of the ball and win the turnover battle,” Bryson foreshadowed. “You’re gonna have to find some big plays because you’re not gonna stop them. You’re not going to keep them to 13. You’re going to have to put up 25+ points to find a win against those guys. You’re just trying to get to halftime and the fourth quarter to see if we’re still hanging around.”
