After a crushing 49-14 defeat to Grant on Friday night in front of nearly 5,000 fans as well as a nationally televised audience, Folsom High’s varsity football team now has a fresh start.

The Bulldogs might not be as confident as they were a week ago, but the team has still got boatloads of talent and, despite the significant loss, still figure to be one of the better teams in the Sacramento area.

As it turns out, the team’s bye week, originally scheduled to be Sept. 17 but changed to Sept. 3 just a few weeks ago, is a blessing in disguise.

“I think it’s a good thing,” Folsom coach Kris Richardson said. “I think we’d be alright either way, but it’s been a hectic three weeks leading up to the Grant game. Monday we will watch the film, which won’t be fun, but we’re going to watch it, see our mistakes, learn from them and correct them.

“We’re going to get back to basics this week and then start preparing for Roseville. I think the team will respond just fine. We have high expectations and we’ve got a lot of character guys.”

Not much went right for the Bulldogs against Grant. Offensively, an interception as the Bulldogs went for the tying score in the first quarter put the team on their heels and led to a 14-0 lead for the Pacers.

In the second quarter, a penalty for 12-men on the field kept a Grant drive alive and instead of the Bulldogs having a chance to tie the game, the Pacers went on to take a 21-7 lead.

On the next possession, an unsportsmanlike penalty pushed Folsom deep into their own territory, allowing the Pacers outstanding field position on their way to a 28-7 lead.

Beyond that Folsom’s offensive line, while protecting Dano Graves fairly well, broke down at times and had Graves running for his life a little too often. While Graves was trying his best to make a play, several times his receivers made an attempt to get only one hand on the ball.

“We had too many receivers going up with one hand to make a catch and a lot of that was who we were playing,” Richardson said. “Our receivers have to go after balls better than that.”

Graves added, “Our receivers had trouble getting off re-routes and Grant’s secondary was fast. We were prepared, but we just didn’t execute.”

The defense had its fair share of trouble as well.

“I was surprised at how poorly we tackled considering how much time we’ve spent on it and how well we’ve done with it over the summer and during our scrimmages and at practice,” Richardson said. “Also, we had too many blown coverages in our secondary and our third-down defense was very poor.

“Finally, last year we won the special teams match-up almost every week and we didn’t do well in that area either.”

There’s plenty of work for the Bulldogs to do, not only to improve overall, but to also get ready for Roseville on Sept. 10.

“We will be OK,” Graves said. “The Grant game just fired us up and has given us motivation to get better.”

JV Bulldogs fall, 20-7

Folsom jumped out to a 7-0 lead on a 80-yard touchdown pass from Taylor Miller-Wing to Phillip Carter, but the Pacers scored three unanswered touchdowns to go on to a 20-7 win.

The Bulldogs, had they held on to the ball more often, could have given the Pacers a better game, but several dropped passes hurt.

“Number one, Grant is a very good team,” Folsom JV coach Terry Richards said. “Number two, we’re going to be a very good team. We had some things go bad for us that we couldn’t recover from, but we’ll get back to work and fix it. The good news is we have nine more games to play. We’re disappointed, but we’ll be alright. I loved the way we battled. We played hard and didn’t back down.”

Game profitable

Besides bringing some publicity to Folsom and Grant high schools, the televised football game Friday on ESPN2 also brought in a nice chunk of change.

Between the two schools, 3,800 tickets were sold at $6 a piece for a total of $22,800. That’s not counting family pass holders, students with ASB stickers and others who had previously paid for tickets.

After bills are paid, the remaining money, according to Stephen Nichols, the public information officer at the school district, goes into the Associated Student Body Fund. While there is nothing in particular the money is slated for, students do have a say in how the funds are spent, as expenditures are approved by the student government, according to Nichols.

The school district also received money from ESPN, though Nichols would not discuss the terms and conditions of the contract, saying that they’re confidential.

The snack bar likely had record sales, but no numbers were available as of press time. All that money stays in the football program to be spent on whatever is deemed necessary.

ESPN coming to town was a good thing, according to Nichols.

“The primetime ESPN broadcast did wonders for the entire community and their pride in the Folsom High School Bulldogs,” Nichols said. “Everyone got involved and had a part in the celebration. It was a remarkable occasion that I’m certain all involved won’t soon forget.”