SACRAMENTO, Calif. — As if the stakes needed to get any higher. Friday night, the Inderkum Tigers and Folsom Bulldogs clash, with a trip to the Division 1 section championship game on the line. But for Inderkum, this game is about unfinished business.
"We've been thinking about Folsom since January ever since we started the off-season. Ever since that loss last year that left a bad taste in our mouth, we've been working to get back at it," said Omarion Overby, an Inderkum senior.
Last year, Folsom ended Inderkum's season with a hard-fought 36-29 victory. 370 days later, the Bulldogs are ready to do it again. But this time, they say it won't be as close.
"Considering we only beat them like one score last year, it's going to be different this time," said Vlad Dyakonov, a junior on the Folsom team.
The Tigers have been one of the few teams in recent years to take the Bulldogs down to the wire. It's their never-say-die attitude that always keeps them in games.
"Honestly, I just think that we're so resilient and we have that mindset where we're never going to give up... we never back down," said Ricky Cole, a senior and quarterback for the Inderkum team.
Inderkum head coach Reggie Harris has a unique and powerful philosophy when it comes to preparing his players to play football. Beyond wins and losses, the Tiger way is being the best version of yourself no matter what happens.
"It just confirms what I preach to these young people — just improve themselves and the team gets better. When you just focus on making yourself better and giving the best version of yourself, day by day, you become a champion," said Reggie Harris, head coach for Inderkum.
His approach has earned the coach respect, even from Friday's fierce opponent.
"Coach Harris is very familiar with Folsom. He's beaten Folsom plenty of times when he was over at Grant High School and building section champion teams over there. It's no accident that Inderkum is where they're at, not only last year but again this year," said Folsom head coach Paul Doherty.
The Bulldogs are defending state champs for a reason. They know beating the Tigers is just another step on the climb back to the top of the mountain. But even that's not high enough, because in Folsom, the sky is the limit.
"I feel like the sky is the limit for this team. I feel like there's not really a maximum to it. We get as better as we want to be," said Kam Totton, a senior on the Folsom team.