Roseville nips East Union, wins first section football title since 1987

It was just six months, but a whole calendar school year, ago that Austin Chang stood in the batter’s box in the top of the seventh inning of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division IV baseball championship. Chang singled in the tying and go-ahead runs to put Roseville High School ahead of Bradshaw Christian, and the Tigers held in the last of the seventh to win the title 6-5. Chang told Gold Country Media in May he was just trying to hit the horsehide “the other way.” Saturday night, in cold late November dusk, Chang wanted to send the pigskin right back up the middle, and his 24-yard field goal with two seconds left gave Roseville a 31-29 victory over Manteca-East Union in the Division IV section football final at Hughes Stadium. “I’ve had similar situations, like baseball, had it come down to the wire and pulled through, and being in this situation really helps,” a happy Chang said on the field as his teammates celebrated around him. His feeling at the moment: “Joy! I was just ecstatic. It was just an amazing feeling, seeing it go through (the uprights).” It was Roseville’s second section football banner overall and first since 1987. East Union (9-4) has never won a section football championship; Saturday’s appearance in the final was just the Lancers’ second in the 60-year history of the school. East Union last advanced to a final in 1989. The Tigers (11-2), seeded second, took possession at their 35-yard line trailing 29-28 following a two-yard touchdown run by East Union senior Brayden Camara and a two-point conversion run by quarterback Kirk Simoni with 2:48 remaining. It took the Tigers 10 plays to drive to the East Union 7 to set up Chang for the winning field goal. Chang, by the way, scored 49 goals for Roseville’s Division 3 section-champion water polo team this fall. Senior quarterback Mason Susnara completed 6 of 7 passes on the winning march, including a 17-yarder to Jack Walker on third and seven from the EU 38-yard line. “There’s nothing easy at Roseville High School, the injuries early on (in the season), shooting ourselves in the foot. We probably had five or six false start penalties,” Roseville coach Adam Reinking said. “We just kept grinding. In the second half, we’re just going to run what we ran in March, April and May. We knew it was going to be a tight game. We knew they weren’t going to go easy. Our guys just played 48 minutes.” Susnara overall completed 18 of 27 passes for 233 yards and three touchdowns – two to JJ Yong and one to Walker. Yong, a 6-foot-4, 205-pound senior, had six catches for 118 yards. He streaked through an opening in the East Union secondary to catch a 26-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter, and his 48-yard catch and run early in the third quarter gave the Tigers their first lead at 28-21. “I want to know why Sac State hasn’t been on our campus since January, know what I’m saying?” Reinking said of Yong. “This kid is an amazing athlete. He’s a better human being than he is a football player or basketball player. It’s a huge mystery why the local schools are sleeping on him. Somebody will get him, and he will do great things. He’s a phenomenal player. When these coaches wake up, they’re gonna get a dude who’s gonna play four years of football for them, be on time, be early, work his ass off. Somebody’s just gotta give him a shot.” East Union outgained Roseville in total yardage 391-384. That was a huge accomplishment for the Tigers. The Lancers entered the game averaging 460 yards and 50 points per game. Camara rushed for a game-high 164 yards and a touchdown on 23 carries. He also caught a 12-yard touchdown pass from Simoni, who totaled 201 yards (145 passing, 56 rushing). And while EU star Jackson Fay scored two touchdowns – on a 10-yard run in the first quarter and on a nine-yard bullet from Simoni in the second period – Roseville otherwise contained the electric senior playmaker. Fay ended the night with just eight touches for 46 yards. In playoff victories over Placer and top seed Twelve Bridges, Fay totaled eight touchdowns as the Lancers piled up 119 points. Fay finished his stellar season with 30 touchdowns, and Camara scored 28. The Tigers collected two turnovers, intercepting Simoni in the first half and recovering what was ruled a fumble by Fay at the Roseville one-foot line early in the fourth quarter to halt a 10-play EU march that started at its 17-yard line. Roseville then stopped East Union on four downs on its next possession. “Greg Burt and Joe Bagley, two of the best defensive coaches in the area,” Reinking said. “Nobody talks about them because we’re Roseville High school. Those two guys put in tremendous hours. Those guys are the reason why we won this game. … Their defensive game plan was absolutely nails. They worked so tremendously hard to stop 3 (Fay), stop 5 (receiver JP Abrew), every single thing we did. Game ball to those guys.” D’marcis Gresham (59 yards rushing and a touchdown), Kenny McClure (44 yards) and Colton Wolfe (38 yards) shared the load for a Roseville running game that totaled 151 yards. McClure also caught seven passes for 47 yards. Roseville learned Sunday it will visit Oakland-McClymonds (10-2) at 6 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 6, in the CIF Regional Division 3-A Bowl Game. Reinking credited the culture of this year’s senior class for the Tigers’ success, saying, “Be tough, be competitive, and be committed. I’m just so proud of these guys, the class of ’26. They helped put this team on the map, obviously winning a blue banner for the first time since 1987. I couldn’t be more proud. This group has been amazing.”