STOCKTON — Turlock High football’s streak of consecutive winning seasons was snapped at three on Friday night as the Bulldogs were on the wrong side of a 54-15 beating at the hands of Lincoln High at Alex G. Spanos Stadium in a first-of-its-kind regional bowl game put on by the Sac-Joaquin Section.
Though one of the reasons bowl games were implemented was to have teams end their seasons in competitive matchups, quite the opposite unfolded. Despite Turlock coming in ranked as the No. 9 team at the Division I level in the section and Lincoln as No. 11, the Trojans hung nearly 500 yards of total offense on the Bulldogs.
Of that yardage, 324 were through the air off the arm of Julian Perez, as were five of Lincoln’s six touchdowns. Perez completed 21 of 30 pass attempts, finding seven different receivers. His top target was Taylor Orn, who had six receptions for 107 yards and three touchdowns.
Turlock’s season ends at 5-6 overall.
Regardless of what the final result was, each team’s season was scheduled to end tonight. In the new playoff format, only league champions and the top eight teams in each division advance to bracket play in pursuit of a blue banner.
“I think the section’s probably right that the top eight teams typically do go and perform well in the playoffs, and the bottom do not,” said Turlock head coach James Peterson.
Even with no path forward, the end of high school football weighed heavy on many seniors on the sideline.
“I just reminded the guys before the game that this was going to be the end of it, whether we had a favorable win or a game like this where it seemed like everything was going against us,” Peterson added. “I told them, ‘No matter what, you have to leave it all on the field, because that's all you got. At the end of the day, you're gonna look at yourself in the mirror for the rest of your life, so you have to leave it all on the field.’ And that’s where a lot of the emotions are coming from.”
Senior running back Kaleb Guinn was one those who came off the field with tears in his eyes. He was one the few bright spots for Turlock in the lopsided loss, tabbing 145 yards on 20 carries.
Down 20-0 late in the second quarter, Guinn capped off a nine-play drive in which he carried the ball five times with a 2-yard score. The Bulldogs didn’t strike again until late in the fourth quarter. With a running clock, Guinn broke loose a 76-yard run to set the Bulldogs up inside the 5-yard line. It set the table for another special moment for a fellow senior, as offensive lineman Braxten Durkee was able to rumble into the end zone from a yard out. Junior quarterback Donnell Harmon III, in relief of injured starter Scout Silva, snuck in for a successful 2-point conversion.
“I loved it. It means the world to me,” Durkee said of his scoring sendoff. “As soon as I got my name called they told me to go around the ball, I was bright-eyed… I was so happy to have that moment. I wanted to get that last week, but we ran out of time, so it was all good. But they gave me a shot today. I almost fumbled it, but I held on, thankfully.”
Though a running play with Durkee had been practiced at moments during the season, it was more of a spur of the moment decision by Peterson to hand him the ball on Friday.
“Just the toughness that the Durkee family has always brought to our program, it’s so amazing,” Peterson said, making reference to older brother Logan who put fear in offenses the three seasons prior. “Braxten’s just resilient. He became a guy that struggled in conditioning to becoming an everyday weight room guy that never wants to leave… He learned to be tough, and it was great to see him become who he is today.”
When asked what being a Bulldog meant to him, Durkee was quick to respond.
“It’s a brotherhood,” he said. It's always one phone call away with any of these guys, if you ever need anything. They'll forever be brothers and I’ll love them always.”
