Downey High turned in a dominant 46-26 victory over Central California Athletic League rival Turlock to clinch at least a share of the conference title Friday night at Joe Debely Stadium.
The Knights improve to 5-4 overall and 4-0 in the CCAL, and will entertain Enochs (2-7, 1-3) at Chuck Hughes Stadium next week with a chance to wrap up a second consecutive outright league championship.
With both teams sporting unblemished CCAL records heading into the showdown, it was clear that the winner would be heading to the playoffs, and the loser would get a CIF bowl game – essentially a consolation prize.
Should Downey win next week – and it will be heavily favored to do just that – the Knights will likely take on top ranked Folsom in the in the opening round of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division 1 playoffs. The Bulldogs (3-6 and 3-1), on the road next week to face winless Modesto, appear headed to a bowl game for the second consecutive year. Potential opponents include teams Tracy and Tokay (Lodi), and perhaps even Franklin (Elk Grove).
The SJS does not factor teams’ MaxPreps rankings when selecting bowl matchups.
“We try to line up teams that are close in proximity and close in competitive balance,” said Will DeBoard, the section’s assistant commissioner.
Neither team did anything with their first two possessions of the contest – the Knights punted twice, and the Bulldogs punted and fumbled. But that turnover gave Downey the ball on Turlock’s 42, and four plays later the visitors cashed in on the first of four Elias Haynes touchdowns.
From there, it was all Downey.
The Knights raced out to a 32-0 lead at the intermission and led by as much as 46-8 midway through the third quarter before they took their foot off the gas and coasted the rest of the way.
Haynes, who carried the ball 12 times for 139 yards in the first half, finished the game with 162 yards on 17 totes. As a team, Downey finished with 315 rushing yards on 44 attempts, which doesn’t include a gut-punch of a 93-yard kickoff return by speedy Joseph Duenas – coming right after Turlock scored its first TD of the game – to make the score 39-8 with 8:27 remaining in the third quarter.
Turlock quarterback Donnell Harmon, who replaced starter Owen King in the second quarter, had a hand in all four Bulldog scores.
After his 36-yard run made finally put Turlock on the board early in the third quarter, Harmon hit Braiden Fuentes for a 7-yard scoring strike with 2:50 remaining in the third to make it 46-14. Then, on the last play of the stanza, Harmon hit Noel Garcia across the middle and Garcia raced in from midfield for a 62-yard touchdown. And with under two minutes remaining in the game, Harmon rushed in from the 9 for the final margin.
