Grant High School's football team broke in its newly renovated home field the way its fans have come to expect: with a win. The Pacers beat Cathedral Catholic of Los Angeles 21-7 on Friday night at Rutherford Memorial Stadium, known as Mike Alberghini Field, in the venue's first game since a facility overhaul brought new turf, a state-of-the-art track, and a new press and coaches box to the Del Paso Heights campus.
Running back Jayson Williams, who is committed to Fresno State, scored two rushing touchdowns in the first half to help Grant build a 21-0 lead with 3:52 remaining, according to The Sacramento Bee. Koby Shabazz, who is committed to Sacramento State, added a touchdown on an end-around run. The Pacers defense shut out Cathedral Catholic, which entered the game 2-0 and had scored 52 and 43 points in its first two outings, until just 1:43 remained in the fourth quarter.
Grant, now 1-1 on the season and ranked third in the region by the Bee, also had a would-be 76-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Blake Nycum to Zo Edwards — who is committed to California — negated by a penalty. Co-head coach Carl Reed, a 1997 Grant graduate, still called the offense a work in progress even in victory. “We can be really good, but we have to get better,” Reed said, per the same outlet.
A Field Named for the Winningest Coach in Program History
The stadium's formal name, Rutherford Memorial Stadium, sits alongside its more commonly used name honoring Mike Alberghini, Grant's winningest prep football coach. Alberghini led the Pacers for 31 seasons, from 1991 to 2021, and racked up 282 career victories that tied him for the winningest mark in Sac-Joaquin Section history, according to The Sacramento Bee. The Bee also named him its coach of the decade for both the 1990s and 2000s. Alberghini died in early 2025 following stroke complications, at age 78.
The field carries weight beyond wins and losses for the Del Paso Heights community. In November 2015, 17-year-old Grant senior cornerback Jaulon “JJ” Clavo was fatally shot hours before a scheduled playoff game, and the rescheduled contest at what is now Mike Alberghini Field drew rival teams and community members from across the region in a show of support, as ABC10 reported at the time. Alberghini and his team dedicated that season's postseason run to Clavo's memory.
Bond Measure Behind the Renovation
The new turf, track, and press box were funded through a school-bonded measure that passed roughly three years before Friday's opener and financed athletic upgrades across the Twin Rivers Unified School District, which also added new baseball and softball diamonds at Grant. The district approved the funding without raising tax rates beyond previously authorized levels, according to Twin Rivers Unified School District. Twin Rivers USD serves nearly 25,000 students across 52 school sites spanning 82 square miles of North Sacramento and surrounding communities.
Grant football's championship pedigree helps explain why the district prioritized the stadium. The program has won 10 CIF Sac-Joaquin Section championships since its first in 1992, plus three CIF Northern California championships and two CIF state crowns. Grant's 2008 team beat Long Beach Poly to become the only public school ever to reach and win the elite Open Division state final, a distinction the program still holds. Under co-head coaches Reed and Syd Thompson, both Grant alumni, the Pacers added CIF championships in 2022, 2023, and 2025.
Alumni Ties Run Through the Program
The coaching staff itself reflects Grant's generational pull. Lynn Reed, who graduated from Grant in 1978, coached track and football at the school for decades. Devonte Booker and Kipeli Koniseti also serve on the current Grant coaching staff. Anthony Malisauskas, describing the program's place in the neighborhood, said Grant is an important part of the community. Carl Reed, reflecting on the program's staying power, said Grant is back in contention all the time.
Grant's current roster carries the promise of more to come: the Pacers' players hold a combined 20 scholarship offers to play NCAA Division I football. Friday's nonleague win was covered for the Bee by Joe Davidson, who has written about sports for the paper since 1989, was inducted into the California High School Football Hall of Fame in fall 2024, and was named the National Sports Media Association's sports writer of the year for California in early 2024.
