Ripon Christian beats Woodland Christian, earns first football title in school history

Ripon Christian High’s football program is familiar with section championships.

The Knights appeared in three title games but were unable to earn a blue banner.

After beating Rio Vista and Stone Ridge Christian in the first two rounds, Ripon Christian earned a spot in its fourth championship and wanted this appearance to be different.

“We were definitely playing for those losses and those teams in the past,” quarterback Trey Fasani said. “We had that on our mind this whole time.”

In a game that ultimately came down to who could make the timely plays, Ripon Christian came up big, holding the Cardinals scoreless in the second half while the offense scored two timely touchdowns, securing a 28-16 win Friday in the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division VII championship game.

The victory gives the Knights their first football championship in school history after title game appearances in 2013, 2017 and 2018. They powered through injures to Thys Van Der Hoek, who left the game in the second half, and Griffin de Abreu, who was injured in the first half but returned for most of the second.

“We were playing for each other,” head coach Phil Grams said. “We’re playing for a school, we’re playing for our families and we’re playing for those who came before us – the two teams that got to the section championship game before us and didn’t get it done, the COVID club team that didn’t get to play any CIF games and then last year’s team that were under sanctions and didn’t get to play in the playoffs.”

All section champions advance to the CIF State Northern California regional playoffs. The Knights likely will find out their next opponent this weekend.

Both teams scored two first-half touchdowns, but a pair of successful two-point conversions by the Cardinals gave them a 16-14 lead at halftime.

Fasani threw two of his three touchdown passes in the second half, connecting with Jace Beidleman and Eli Terpsma in the third and fourth quarters, respectively, as the Knights stormed from behind to secure the victory.

The senior threw for 217 yards and stayed composed despite throwing two interceptions.

“Eli Terpsma made a great move on the safety and just went to the wide-open spot,” Fasani said of the 14-yard completion that put the game out of reach. “They have very young DBs and we knew that we could take advantage of that.”

On its last offensive possession, Woodland Christian marched down the field. A pass-interference penalty gave the Cardinals the ball on the Knights 15.

Ahead 28-18, the Ripon Christian defense sealed the game. Woodland Christian quarterback Caden Pascoe dropped back to pass but Brady Grondz was in perfect position to make a play. He stepped in front of the Woodland Christian receiver in the right corner of the end zone, intercepting the pass for Ripon Christian.

“Before the play I was thinking we got to get a pick,” said Grondz, who also had a first-half touchdown reception. “And then the ball came up and 50 feet the ball just went up and just did, just went up and made a play.”

The play ended a drive that started on the Woodland Christian 35.

“Brady Grondz, small in stature but giant in heart,” Grams said. “He went up against the taller guy to get the pick and it felt like we were gonna get it done at that time. That’s what’s turned the whole thing around and we felt like the ballgame was ours.”

The Knights enter the Northern California Regional Playoffs on an eight-game win streak, sparked by their only league loss of the season, a 21-7 game against Orestimba.

“We had to check ourselves after the Orestimba game and challenge each other to get better every time we walked on the field,” Grams said. “One of our program goals is that we’re the most fundamentally sound football team on the field each week and we’ve been that the last three weeks now.”