It’s not uncommon for the Turlock High football program to start the season with a losing record due to their tough non-conference schedules consisting of the top teams from across the state. In fact, they’ve had a combined 2-8 record the previous two seasons ahead of their league openers. What is different this year, though, is that the injury bug continues to feast on the Bulldogs.
In their final tuneup before the Central California Athletic League calendar begins, the Bulldogs had no answers for Clovis West, losing by a 54-7 score under the lights at Joe Debely Stadium on Friday. It dropped Turlock’s record to 1-4 and marked a third straight loss.
The Bulldogs entered Friday’s game without a plethora of skill players, including star quarterback Scout Silva, his top two receiving targets in Landyn Fitzgerald and Donovan Muirbrook, and the top two running backs on the depth chart in Alex Ventura and Braiden Fuentes.
The result? Just 158 total yards of offense.
Meanwhile, a defense that saw the return of stalwarts Jeremy Garcia, Noah Tovar and Noel Garcia still wasn’t enough to limit the Golden Eagles, the fourth-ranked Division I program in the Central Section who soared to 343 yards and six touchdowns from scrimmage, not to mention two defensive and special teams scores.
In a rare occurrence at Joe Debeley Stadium, at least with the Bulldogs down on the scoreboard, the officiating crew motioned for a running clock in the fourth quarter.
The game was dominated from the jump by Clovis West. Receiving the opening kickoff, they drove 62 yards in 10 plays over seven minutes, the last play being a 14-yard touchdown strike from JJ Howard to Dominic Tafoya on fourth-and-11. The Bulldogs responded with a long drive of their own — eight plays — but were stopped on their own conversion attempt.
And the floodgates proceeded to open.
Two minutes later, Major Lee took the snap in wildcat formation and broke off a 51-yard touchdown run. Quickly forcing Turlock to punt on their next drive, Amir Wright ran back the kick 70 yards to the house. On the ensuing Bulldog drive, Relando Jefferson had a 95-yard pick-6 of backup quarterback Owen King.
The fairly quiet home crowd finally had something to cheer for when King connected with Noel Garcia for a 37-yard touchdown with two minutes to play before the half. The celebration was short lived, as the Golden Eagles used every second left of that clock to drive 80 yards and extend their lead to 33-7 on a 10-yard connection between Howard and Jefferson.
Clovis West scored on their first possession of the second half when Andrew Garcia hauled in a Howard pass from 16 yards out. Jacob Higgins and Steven Macias each added rushing scores to cap off all the scoring.
The Golden Eagles improved to 4-1.
Since James Peterson took over the Turlock High program 17 years ago, the Bulldogs have consistently had one of the toughest non-conference schedules in the region. This year, it was the fifth-toughest of Division I programs in the Sac-Joaquin Section, according to MaxPreps.
The Bulldogs have a bye next week, which will give their stable of banged up players much needed time to heal. Then, on Oct. 3, their quest for a third straight CCAL title begins when they travel to the campus of Gregori High School in Modesto to take on Enochs.
The 1-3 Eagles had a bye on Friday, but still have one more non-conference game on the schedule against Merced. The Bears improved to 4-0 on Friday with a win over Madera.
