09 Dec Pittsburg Exacts Revenge, Rallies From Down 21 to Beat Folsom and Advance to State Championship

Pittsburg High quarterback Marley Alcantara holds the NorCal championship plaque after his four touchdown performance.

Story and photos by Juan Cebreiros

Last season, Pittsburg’s season ended with a loss in the NorCal finals to Folsom. This year, the Pirates’ got their revenge, defeating Folsom 28-27 on Dec. 6 and advancing to the Division 1-AA state championship game.

Pittsburg head coach Charlie Ramirez said the win was not only big for the team but also the Pittsburg community and called it “the biggest win that the school has had in 33 years since 1991.”

“It’s not because it’s Folsom but because it’s at this level,” Ramirez added.

Folsom jumped out to a 21-0 lead early in the second quarter behind two passing and one rushing touchdown from quarterback Ryder Lyons, who was named California’s Gatorade Player of the Year hours before the playoff game.

“We spotted them 21, and we didn’t bat an eyelash,” Ramirez said. “We played probably our best game of the year tonight.”

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After the rough start, Pittsburg’s defense took control of the game and paved the way for a Pirate comeback. Folsom didn’t move the ball past midfield for the rest of the first half, but the Pirate defense played their best when their backs were against the wall.

Folsom had four second half redzone possessions and scored on just one of them. Pittsburg forced two turnovers on downs, and Pirate safety Jamar Searcy delivered a hit that knocked the ball out of Lyons’ hands inside the 10-yard line to get their third redzone stop.

Ramirez said the biggest key to success for his defense was going to be their ability to stop the run. He added that he felt confident in his defense against Folsom due to previous success playing them the last two years.

“We gave them fits in 2022, we gave them fits last year, and I knew that we could do the same thing this year,” Ramirez said. “We just stayed committed to it. The kids were committed to it, not only in executing the scheme but executing fundamentals.”

Pittsburg’s offense also got off to a slow start, turning the ball over on a Marley Alcantara fumble on their first play. The Pirates ran just four plays in the first quarter while Folsom’s offense marched down the field for touchdowns on their two first quarter possessions.

“We just told them that we have so much time right now,” Ramirez said of the message to the team after going down 21 points. “We had to get the stops on defense, and then flip around and drive the ball down the field. We did a great job of getting our tempo going, and I think we gassed them out a little bit as the game went on.”

After Folsom’s third touchdown, Alcantara led Pittsburg down the field for touchdowns on four of their next five possessions. Alcantara connected with Kenneth Ward on a 20-yard touchdown pass to get the Pirates on the board. Then, on the next drive, he fired an 11-yard touchdown strike to Rolph Mosley to make the score 21-14 entering halftime.

PIttsburg then went on to score on their first two possessions out of the halftime break and took their first lead at 28-21 when Alcantara fired his fourth touchdown pass of the night.

“It turned out to be the Marley Alcantara show and not the Gatorade Player of the Year show,” Ramirez said of his quarterback’s performance.

The Pirate defense would eventually buckle after Searcy fumbled to give Folsom the ball at the Pittsburg 16-yard line. Lyons scored on a rushing touchdown a few plays later, but the Pirate defense would step up once again and stop the Bulldogs’ two-point try to lead 28-27 with two minutes to play.

Pittsburg did have to punt the ball back to Folsom, but the defense forced their last turnover on downs of the night and sealed their sport in the state championship.

The Pirates battle Lincoln High from San Diego in the Division 1-AA state championship game Friday at Saddleback College in Mission Viejo with kickoff scheduled for 8 p.m.