SACRAMENTO, CA (MPG) - It’s safe to say: the Grant Union High School varsity football team is back!

The Pacers (12-2) solidified that proclamation Saturday by winning the 2022 Division 3-AA CIF State Football Championship, defeating the San Jacinto Tigers by a narrow score of 36-34. This is the second state title in Grant school history.

This year, the Pacers had their first winning season since 2016, when the team went 8-4. Grant went 4-6 in 2017, which was a long fall from the standard set by the 2008 state championship team. Things got slightly better for the Pacers in 2018, as the team went 5-6. Alas, it was another losing season.

Grant continued to decline in 2019, posting a 1-9 overall record, going 0-6 in Sierra Foothill League play. The 2020 season was overshadowed by the COVID-19 pandemic which pushed the regular fall football season into spring 2021.

Led by transfer quarterback Joseph “Jojo” McCray, the Pacers did not win a single game in 2021. Grant’s only win came in a forfeit against Oak Ridge. 

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The 2022 Pacers have not only returned to their winning ways on the field, but they have also overcome adversity off it. On October 21 around 10 p.m., a shooting occurred in the Grant parking lot during the Pacers’ 49-42 loss to Monterey Trail. A 15-year-old was arrested on December 7 for the fatal shooting.

One reason behind Grant’s remarkable turnaround is moving divisions. The Pacers formerly played in Division II and were a part of the highly competitive and stacked Sierra Foothill League since 2018 according to MaxPreps. This season, Grant moved down to Division III and the Metropolitan League.

Rather than playing against teams like Folsom, Oak Ridge and Rocklin in the foothills, the Pacers competed against teams from Sacramento and Elk Grove. Grant finished second in league play, only behind Monterey Trail of Elk Grove who went undefeated in Metro play.

The Pacers began the 2022 season with back-to-back home victories, doubling their win total from the previous season, even including the forfeit win against Oak Ridge. Grant defeated McQueen of Reno, Nevada 42-0 on August 19. The following week, the Pacers got a narrow victory against Inderkum, 26-20.

Grant’s first loss of the season came on the road in Nevada on September 2, losing 30-21 to the Reno Huskies. Following a bye week, the Pacers then won four straight, dominating their opposition from around Sacramento, outsourcing their four foes, 264-22, combined.

Grant defeated Burbank 48-8 on September 16. The Pacers beat McClatchy 56-6 on September 23. Grant dominated River City of West Sacramento, 76-8 on October 6. The Pacers destroyed Kennedy 84-0 on October 13.

The win streak came to an end against Monterey Trail, but as noted earlier, the game of football was the least of everyone’s concerns that night given what happened in the parking lot. Grant closed out the regular season with a 56-21 win against Laguna Creek of Elk Grove.

The Pacers had a first-round bye in the 2022 Division III CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Playoffs as the No. 3 seed. Grant opened the playoffs on November 11 with a dominant 64-28 victory against No. 11 Yuba City, who had upset No. 6 Vista del Lago the previous week, 48-6.

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In the semifinals on November 18, the Pacers kept rolling and put up a basketball score in a five-touchdown victory against No. 2 seed Patterson, ultimately winning 80-45. Grant won the section championship with a gritty 20-12 victory against Christian Brothers, as the game was played at Sacramento City College the following week.

On December 2, the Pacers erased any doubt that they were back, dominating on the road at El Cerrito, winning 36-8.

Going into Saturday’s state championship game, Grant had already made history. The Pacers are the first California team to go winless in the previous season before playing for the state title the following year. Grant finished the job by defeating San Jacinto in the state title game on Saturday evening in Del Paso Heights.

“That’s taking everything that they earned, everything that they were worth, and they took it,” Grant coach Carl Reed told the media after the win Saturday night. “They took it and earned it. Right when it was there, and everyone thought it wasn’t there, they still found a way to take it. Because they knew we had to finish. And that’s a testament to everybody out here.

“This belongs to us, we’ve earned it. We’ve worked a year for it, and we got it.”