ESPN RISE

It might have been a dreary weekend for a California college team in Seattle, but two of the state's top high school teams ventured to the Northwest and headed home with impressive victories.

Grant (Sacramento, Calif.) made a statement in its ESPN RISE FAB 50 showdown against Bellevue (Wash.) on Saturday night, showing it's a force to reckoned with for at least the next two seasons in a 14-0 blanking of the host Wolverines at Seattle Memorial Stadium.

Grant's win came one night after Oaks Christian (Westlake Village, Calif.) won a showdown of FAB 50 top 10 teams -- defeating Skyline (Sammamish, Wash.) 28-25 -- and on the same day Southern Cal was upset by Washington in college football.

The Pacers (3-0) were No. 30 in last week's FAB 50 national rankings and should make a strong move upward in the next few weeks, especially since they are expected to roll over their upcoming opponents. Bellevue fell to 1-2 and lost for the second straight week to a state champion. The Wolverines, who were No. 48 in the FAB 50, dropped a 35-17 contest at Katy (Texas) last week.

The loss for Bellevue also was its first to a California foe, with earlier victories over De La Salle of Concord, Long Beach Poly and California of San Ramon.

"They've had great success against some great teams from our state, but we like being the first to accomplish something like beating them," said Grant head coach Mike Alberghini. "This is the third year in a row we've played a state champion, and I like that we're willing to take these challenges."

In recent years, other California teams have struggled in trips to play in Washington. This weekend, though, Golden State squads went 3-1 and now trail Washington schools in all-time state-versus-state results by just 11-9.

Bellevue, which scored 62 points in its first game, only seriously threatened the young but supremely talented Grant defense on its opening drive. The Wolverines pushed the ball downfield for 13 plays, but had to settle for a field goal attempt that was unsuccessful.

"Those first few plays we hadn't played against a wing-T team in awhile and we made some mistakes," Alberghini said. "The thing I like best about this team is that they play hard every week."

The good news for Bellevue was that its own defense was shutting down Grant. The Pacers only drove as far as the Wolverines' 39-yard line in the first half, which meant the teams headed into the halftime break tied at 0-0.

On Grant's second possession of the third quarter, the Pacers used the running of senior Devontae Butler (29 carries, 134 yards) plus a 21-yard pass from senior quarterback Glenn Deary to senior wide receiver Dezmon Epps to get them into scoring position. On a second-and-goal play from the Bellevue 7-yard line, Epps finally broke the scoring draught by taking an end-around for a touchdown.

Early in the fourth quarter, the Pacers set themselves up for their second touchdown by holding the Wolverines inside their 10-yard line. The resulting punt put the ball at the Bellevue 40-yard line. A 27-yard pass from Deary to Epps plus a fourth-down pass-interference penalty helped Grant get inside Bellevue's 10-yard line. The Pacers scored on a one-yard plunge by Butler.

One of only two first downs for Bellevue in the second half came on a 40-yard bomb from Kenderick Van Ackeren to Braydon Van Ackeren with less than two minutes left. That scoring chance was stopped, however, when Kenderick Van Ackeren was dropped for a loss on a fourth-down play by Grant's 6-foot-3, 325-pound Viliami Moala.

Just like in the 2008 CIF Open Division state bowl game last December, when Moala was a dominating presence in Grant's win over Long Beach Poly, Bellevue was also unable to deal with him. In addition to Moala, Grant's young defense included 6-2, 175-pound hard-hitting junior safety James Samples; 6-2, 240-pound junior linebacker Darryl Paulo; and 6-2, 175-pound sophomore corner Shaq Thompson.

"Yeah, of course we thought we could shut them out," Samples said. "The difference was our good coaching on defense."

Grant shut out its third straight opponent, only this time it was a nationally ranked one, and Bellevue was only able to rush for 160 yards. The Wolverines were led by senior Sean Coley with 13 carries for 82 yards. They did go into the game without top wingback David Nguyen and top fullback Will Fields.

With the famous Space Needle looming overhead, the Pacers and their players trudged toward their locker room. Some of them were perhaps too tired to look ahead, but after seeing both Oaks Christian and Grant in action it wouldn't be a surprise to perhaps see the two teams go against each other in December's CIF Open Division state bowl game.