The Sports Informant

What an exciting week for Sacramento sports. From local high school football teams playing in state bowl games to local MMA fighters battling on national television, Sacramento had a highlight week of sports.

Two knockouts and a team getting knocked out headline this week’s news, as local fighters and teams fought valiantly, both literally and figuratively, in their pursuits of championships.

Sacramento MMA takes over

I wrote extensively before the weekend about Sacramento mixed martial artist Joseph Benavidez, who had a fight Sept. 19 in World Extreme Cagefighting live on national television. But I didn’t get a chance to interview another Sacramento hero who fought that night, one who shocked the world by knocking out a legend.

No one living outside of Sacramento expected the outcome of Saturday night’s fight in the Strikeforce card televised live on Showtime. I say that, because only those who follow MMA in Sacramento, including myself, knew at any moment what actually happened was a very good possibility going in.

Scott “Hands of Steel” Smith, coming in 16-6-1 to face an undefeated Cung Le, seemed to be the setup man for the former middleweight champ, and instead of helping Le rise back up the ranks, Smith knocked him out instead, bringing the San Jose fans in attendance to root on the hometown Le to their feet for his opponent instead.

Let’s put this in perspective. Le was 6-0 in MMA coming in. He was a kickboxing legend before that, and when he switched over to Mixed Martial Arts, all he did was win every fight including the championship before leaving the sport to act in movies. In his return, he needed someone he could beat up to impress the fans again, and Smith, who shies away from no fight and usually takes a beating in each one, was the perfect setup. Only someone forgot to tell Smith he was supposed to lose.

After two rounds of Le punishing Smith with every kick imaginable, several times landing roundhouse kicks that knocked Smith to the ground, Smith got his chance to fight back and did. It’s the same technique Smith has used in all of his fights, win or lose. While his opponent pounds away at Smith’s head and body, Smith waits patiently through the barrage, then strikes like a tiger backed into a corner. When he lands with the attack, Smith wins. Saturday he landed, over and over again, and Le didn’t know what hit him.

Forget that the 30-year-old Smith is from Elk Grove, Calif. I would have been rooting for the heavy underdog regardless. Watching him get pummeled over and over again, I anxiously awaited his typical flurry, and when it came in the third round much to Le’s surprise, the whole world watching dropped their jaws in amazement.

That’s what you get with Scott Smith: Amazement. He may not hold a championship belt. He may not dazzle fans with athletic ability or lightning quick speed. But he’s one of the toughest guys in MMA, and if you give him a shot, there’s a very good chance he’ll amaze you.

It was Le’s first defeat in 24 career combat-sport fights, and it couldn’t have come at a better time for Sacramento.

Meanwhile, the Benavidez fight wasn’t missing excitement, either. The Sacramento bantamweight, who faced one of the best submission artists in MMA in Rani Yahya on Saturday night live on the Versus channel, told me last week he’d wait for an opportunity to pounce on Yahya. Apparently he found it, rocking Yahya with a right hand in the first round, then jumping atop him for some ground and pound to finish the fight.

It was a first-round KO, one Benavidez hoped for but wasn’t entirely sure he’d get.

“It’s no secret when you think about winning, everyone wants a knockout,” Benavidez said. “I would love to submit the guy. That would be a dream come true. But I’m trying to pick up the win however I can.”

Joseph Benavidez jumped atop Rani Yahya to finish the fight in the first round. (Photo courtesy WEC)

A knockout is a pretty good way to do it, for many reasons. Benavidez (11-1) left the fight relatively unharmed, going only a couple of minutes and less than a round with Yahya, avoiding damage that takes many fighters weeks to recover. He also added a fantastic knockout to his resume, which in MMA is still a necessity to continuing employment. While his fights can typically go to decision, as his other three have in the WEC, Benavidez sealed the deal on this one, proving he can wow the fans in more ways than one.

But most importantly, the win, and the brutal way it was finished, sealed Benavidez’s stake as the next No. 1 contender. There was some question after his loss to now No. 1 contender Dominick Cruz in August, but the explosiveness he showed Saturday should leave him nothing else to prove.

Rocklin falls a field goal short

The Rocklin Thunder traveled to the Home Depot Center in Carson for the CIF Division II state championship game, returning home without a win but plenty of respect.

Facing Servite of Anaheim, arguably the best prep team in the state and the winner of the southern part of the state’s toughest section, Rocklin overcame a big deficit to nearly pull off an impressive comeback at high school football’s highest level.

After going into halftime down 27-10, the Thunder bounced back behind their reliable running back Jackson Cummings (159 yards in the game), who scored two touchdowns in the second half to help bring Rocklin and Servite to a 30-30 tie late in the game. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough.

While Rocklin used goal line stands to shut down last year’s state champion Grant in the playoffs this season, it hadn’t seen the likes of kicker Nicholas Echeverry, who carried his team when the offense couldn’t. He kicked a record four field goals in the game, including the 23-yarder as time expired to give Servite (14-1) the 33-30 win.

Rocklin is deserving of some praise here. The Thunder overcame some pretty significant adversity along the way to the narrow loss. After finishing 4-6 a year ago, Rocklin went 14-0 before Saturday’s game, and entered the state championship without quarterback Jimmy Laughrea, a vital part of the offense, who suffered a broken arm the week prior in the Sac-Joaquin Section championship game. Laughrea’s absence alone dropped Rocklin out of the Open Bowl game, but placed against Servite, the Thunder had a pretty hefty hill to climb. The resilient squad climbed it, and if it wasn’t for Echeverry’s golden leg, the Thunder may have gone down the other side champions.

Hats off to Rocklin regardless. What an amazing season.

On Friday, Modesto Christian did the Sac-Joaquin Section proud, winning the Small Schools Bowl, 44-40, over Francis Parker of San Diego. Keaton Engle scored the game-winning touchdown on a two-yard run with 5:38 remaining and the Crusaders held on the rest of the way to come home to Modesto state champions.

Engle rushed 11 times for 157 yards in the game, setting a State Championship Bowl Game record for the longest run with his 65-yarder. He scored two touchdowns.

Kevin Roya added 151 yards on 13 carries and quarterback Isaiah Burse rushed 16 times for 122 yards and a score. Burse also threw three touchdown passes in 7 for 9 passing for 89 yards.

The Crusaders finished 15-0 on the season.