- CIF Sac-Joaquin

SACRAMENTO — Senior quarterback Kalani Mcleod picked the biggest game to have his best performance and the Vanden High School football team followed his lead en route to a Sac-Joaquin Section championship. Mcleod was 22 of 27 passing for an incredible 484 yards and six touchdown passes on Saturday as the Vikings rolled to a 49-35 win over Oakdale for the Division III title at Hughes Stadium in Sacramento. It was Vanden’s third championship in four years, and for a group of 31 returning seniors, that is a huge accomplishment. The Vikings improved to 11-2 overall. Vanden will play in the Northern California 3-A title game this Saturday at 6 p.m. in Chico against Pleasant Valley (9-3), Division II champions of the Northern Section. “I’m really happy for him,” Vanden head coach Mike Clark said of Mcleod. “He is a college quarterback. He’s put so much into the program. He has the talent and he is a natural-born leader.” Mcleod threw to six different receivers and really had a connection with Logan Bailey, who finished with 14 catches for 258 yards and three TDs. Oakdale and Vanden were tied 28-28 after three quarters before the Vikings outscored the Mustangs 21-7 in the final period for the victory. In the second quarter, Mcleod had a 14-yard touchdown pass to Bailey, Zach Tayeh rushed for a 3-yard TD and Mcleod and Bailey connected again for a 75-yard touchdown pass. The game was tied 21-21 at halftime. Chris Clark hauled in a 31-yard touchdown in the third quarter. Mcleod had an 84-yard touchdown pass to Caleb Jones in the fourth quarter, followed by a 23-yard TD pass to Bailey and a 21-yard scoring strike to Clark. “This is a great feeling,” Mcleod said. “We were very excited and confident. It’s a great moment. There was a lot of open space in the passing game and we were able to execute.” Bailey had 10 of his catches in the first half alone and found his open space in the middle of the field. He said the connection has been there between the two for some time. “That was crazy,” Bailey said. “I’m always ready if they call my number a little or a lot. We have a great connection and chemistry and that begins on Mondays. We were able to exploit it.” Jones finished with two catches for 104 yards. Clark had two catches for 57 yards. Tayeh rushed 15 times for 70 yards. Kicker Anthony Claytor converted all seven of his extra-point attempts. Vanden’s defense also knew it was going up against a load in the section’s leading rusher Wes Burford and his teammates. The Mustangs (9-4) stayed close throughout the game until the final minutes. Burford rushed 31 times for 211 yards and three touchdowns in Oakdale’s Wing-T offense. He had a 4-yard touchdown in the first quarter, a 13-yard TD run in the second and added another 5-yard scoring run in the third quarter. Richard Flores had a 3-yard touchdown run in the second quarter. Quarterback Grant Gardner completed a 13-yard TD pass to Chase Lopez. “We had to hit them low and stay on our feet,” defensive lineman-linebacker Junior Jackson said. “You just have to do your job and trust each other and do what the coaches asked us to do.” Jamarion Grace, Jones and Eamon Lacy all had interceptions late in the game. Oakdale kept its offense on the ground, as expected, but occasionally threw the pass to keep Vanden honest. And the Vikings were there to hold the line, especially just before halftime when they were able to stop the Mustangs on fourth down at the 3-yard line. Asked if the section title was his plan from the start of his first season as head coach, Clark just laughed. “Every year is different,” Clark said. “But we knew we had 31 seniors coming back. We had the skilled players and the fight.” Clark joined the staff last season as head coach Sean Murphy's offensive coordinator after a long career as an assistant on the pro, college and prep levels. He quickly built a connection with his junior quarterback Mcleod and the rest was history.

Vanden wins section title, heads to Pleasant Valley-Chico Saturday for Northern California opener