Grizzlies 2 Bears

Granite Bay football looks to rebound from 4-7 season behind a pair of Cal commits

Story By Steven Wilson | Photos By Dave Lawicka

When Granite Bay’s football team started 1-6 last year, all eyes turned to second-year coach Jeff Evans.

Outside criticisms and rumblings in the community didn’t last long though, as the Grizzlies overcame tremendous adversity to win three straight games and reach the playoffs for the 18th-straight season.

Granite Bay coach Jeff Evans at a mid-August practice.

“We gave it everything we had last year,” Evans admitted. “That’s the great thing about football — at the end of the year, you get to look back and prove what you were, and we were a 4-7 team. But that can be a little distorted when you look at the types of teams we played, the completion we played, we just didn’t have enough to win some of those games. But if you take that Granite Bay team and put them in a different league in the area and you probably don’t have a 4-7 team.”

The Grizzlies lost games to Jesuit and Whitney prior to a big road win over Bay Area power Oak Grove. They then fell to Vacaville, Del Oro, Folsom and Oak Ridge before bouncing back and beating Nevada Union, Woodcreek and Rocklin to finish fourth in the ultra-competitive Sierra Foothill League — a good finish, but not one the coaches would be satisfied with come this year.

“We want to be at the highest level,” Evans added. “We won some big games, and we battled through a lot of injuries — you could make a bunch of excuses, but we try not to do that around here … but the great thing about that team that won a bunch of games at the end was that we played a lot of juniors, and those guys are scattered in with this year’s team, so they’re battle-tested.”

Two of those big-time returners recently announced commitments to PAC-12 program Cal to play Division I football next fall.

Offensive and defensive lineman Will Craig and his close friend, Evan Tattersall, who hasn’t decided if he’ll play running back or linebacker at the next level, will head off to the Bears’ program next season together, and they each announced it on the same day via Twitter — something they talked about, but didn’t necessarily plan out.

“We definitely talked about recruiting a lot,” Craig said. “We were texting back and forth, we both talked to our parents and talked to our coaches and then decided we were happy with Cal.”

Craig, who’s the team’s starting left tackle, participated in Nike’s ‘The Opening’ this offseason and finished sixth among offensive linemen. He exhibited great punch with his hands off the line and displayed a quick first step. His size (6-6, 275) also gives him an advantage against smaller d-linemen and he showed a glimpse of that over the summer.

“That was a great opportunity,” Craig said of his trip to Oregon. “You get to play against the best, and that’s rare. It’s not often you’re competing against that caliber of talent.”

Craig’s ties to Oregon go a little deeper, too.

Growing up, Tattersall’s dad, Jon was an All-Pac-12 Honorable Mention in football for the University of Oregon football program. He also coached his son and Craig in pop warner football and up until their high school days.

Will Craig

“My dad was an offensive guard, so he’s coached Will more than me my whole football career,” Evan admitted with a laugh. “But he was our offensive coordinator through Jr. Grizzlies … but he still shares his experiences with me — he’s got a lot of football knowledge.”

Although Evan earned an offer from the Ducks, he decided to stay closer to home and join the Bears’ program next fall.

In the meantime, Craig and Tattersall will carry a lot of responsibility in their final season at Granite Bay as the Grizzlies look to rebound from their worst finish in school history.

The team has a tough schedule, beginning with an Aug. 25 season-opener at home against Jesuit-Carmichael..

“We’ll load up behind those two guys any day of the week, and this area’s going to get a face full of those guys this year,” Evans stated. “The Green Machine’s lining up behind those two studs.”