High on the Hillmen: No. 10 Placer races past No. 9 Casa Roble as coach reaches milestone

Joey Montoya took his time reaching LeFebvre Stadium on Friday night, watching with a bit of awe as scores of teenagers raced onto the Miller-Johnson turf on the edge of the track.

Students dressed in Placer High School’s green and gold sprinted onto the field through a student-made sign that read “We R Back”, followed by the marching band, then the 46-member football team. And then, finally Montoya, the Hillmen’s energized coach the past 18 seasons. He savored his stroll on a place that he’s called home since his youth.

“This is one of the greatest venues and places in America,” Montoya said, eyeing the place. “Just awesome.”

Outside of some early rough edges, Bee No. 10-ranked Placer produced an otherwise awesome opening act. Behind two rushing touchdowns by Baylor Kelley and two Kelley touchdown grabs from Rian Miller, the Hillmen of Auburn raced past No. 9 Casa Roble, 42-20, in a season opener of elite CIF Sac-Joaquin Section powerhouse programs.

Placer displayed speed and balance — and just enough defensive clout — to stymie the Rams of Orangevale, the defending section Division V champions. The Hillmen looked the part of a program ready to extend their rich legacy that dates back to the 1930, with 19 returning starters this year. Montoya said prep teams win with seniors. He’s got a truck load of them.

The goal is to reach the playoffs for the 15h consecutive season, to secure their 12th league championship in 13 seasons and to reach a seventh section final under Montoya. This was Montoya’s 170th career victory, most of them at Placer, his alma mater. Football means the world to the coach. The field bears the name of his grandfather, Bill Miller, who along with co-coach Tom Johnson led Placer to section championship glory in the Hillmen’s heyday of the late 1970s and early ‘80s.

Miller died in 2020 at 85 , and Johnson in 2023 at 80, both of them beloved on campus and in their community beyond their coaching. They were fixtures as teachers and administrators.

“Football and Placer football is in my blood,” Montoya said. “It’s a special place to coach and to play football. There’s endless amounts of tradition in the community. Pride in the high school has always been the focal point of our town.”

Here’s more pride: Montoya is going as motivated as ever as the Sacramento-area’s longest tenured head football coach. There’s too much to do to ponder retirement.

After the game, Placer players sang the school’s fight song with the marching band. Students and family members of players listened in as Hillmen coaches celebrated a game well done. There are few schools in the section that embrace the full football experience like the Hillmen.

Scores of teachers and coaches are alums of the school, who has been a football coach, athletic director and activities director and lives within walking distance of campus. Athletic director Mike Sabins tooled around the place before and during the game in a nifty golf cart to ensure everything was in working order.

Casa Roble coach Chris Horner watched Placer scrimmage in a four-team jamboree last week and came away impressed by the speed and execution of the Hillmen. Then he experienced it. Equally as frustrating for the Rams was having two touchdowns called back, the dropped passes and the penalties. It’s all correctable for a team that expects to return to a section final.

Montoya said this is his fastest team, and it’s hard to argue with how the Hillmen can stretch a defense with sweeps, or up the middle, or downfield via the pass.

Kelley rushed for touchdowns of 20 and 8 yards in the first quarter, and he caught scoring strikes of 22 and 19 yards from Miller, the steady senior signal caller. The final one capped the scoring. Danny Sanchez-Harlow had scoring runs of 53 and 34 yards, and Luke Platzer had a touchdown-drive denying interception and broke up two passes to help key the defense.

About the only bummer for the Hillmen was the sight of senior running back and linebacker Parker Kelley in a bulky knee brace, his season over due to injury. He joined his teammates on the sideline in jeans and his jersey No. 2.

Casa Roble received three touchdown passes from promising sophomore Aidan Lopez, two to Sacramento State-bound receiver Elijah Huddle and one to Ethan Horner. The Rams showed glimpses of how good they can be. Lopez passed for 312 yards. Huddle had 103 yards receiving and the two scores, Conner Campbell had 77 yards receiving and Ethan Horton, son of the head coach, had 67 yards receiving. That’s the potential for a prolific passing offense.

Campbell starred at quarterback last season, including hitting Ethan Horton for the game-winning two-point conversion in Casa Roble’s section-title triumph over Twelve Bridges. He made the transition to receiver seamless.

“We will bounce back,” coach Horner said. He added on Placer, “They’re fast and well coached. They’ll be one of the top seeds in D-IV this year. They’ll make a run for sure.”

Placer plays at Rio Linda and Del Oro the next two weeks, and Casa Roble hosts West Park and visits Bella Vista.