Varsity football head coach James Peterson picked up his 67th all-time victory, tying Tom Tyler with wins as Turlock High head coach, following Friday night’s 31-14 win over Enochs High from Gregori High that saw them extend their league winning streak to three.
“Seriously…Wow…That is humbling because Tom is a great man and a lot of what I do is because he coached me in high school and I never forget all the things he has taught me… feels great,” said Peterson.
Turlock also had to deal without their starting quarterback Brock Paslay who was out for the game and was replaced by Dalton Linn.
In addition, starting running back Anthony Frias was ruled out of the game after sustaining an injury in the first half. It was the second game this season that he was injured and ruled out.
“Down a quarterback and running back, but we just keep finding ways to win. That is the type of team we are, just the next man up mentality. Nobody panicked,” said Peterson. “Dalton was excited about playing quarterback and obviously Josiah has been doing a great job all year and mixing it in, but the guys took care of each other and Enochs didn’t make it easy for us. Great football game.”
They didn’t make it easy, holding Turlock to just one touchdown in the first half.
Josiah Gonzales scored the first touchdown of the game — the only score of the first half — when he ran it in from five yards out after a five-play scoring drive, making it 7-0 at the half.
Gonzalez later scored again on a hook and ladder play that went 50 yards in the third quarter, which made it 14-0 with just over eight minutes left on the clock.
Linn found Miguel Pena on an 11-yard strike that made it 21-0 with 1:48 left in the third.
By the start of the fourth quarter, Turlock’s defense had held Enochs to just 21 yards of total offense.
“Defensively I am happy with that, but offensively I wished we would have come out stronger…They confused the heck out of our offense, but defensive wise we locked them down,” said Turlock’s Devin Bradley.
Linn scored the fourth and final touchdown for Turlock on a 46-yard run that made it 28-0 with 11:27 left in the game.
Enochs scored with 7:31 left in the game and then again with 1:15 left in the game.
Diego Angel drilled a 21-yard field goal with three minutes left as the game ended 31-14.
Following the win, Turlock’s overall record is now 6-2 and 3-0 in league.
“As long as my team did good and we came out with the win, I think it was a good game overall. We had to do all we could and score as many points as we could,” said Turlock’s Tamirr Bullock.
They are officially 8-0 in CCAL play dating back to last season.
Turlock is 5-1 all-time against Enochs after the win and 3-0 on the road. They have also won the last five.
“Offensively we didn’t perform our best, but on defense we clicked on all cylinders. Our line was doing work and a little shaky, but we did our job. All of these league games are important if we wish to win league,” said Jacob Masihi.
“We did a lot of different stuff on the line and we had to adjust. I was a little nervous going in honestly, but I tried to keep my composure and get the job done. I’m proud of my team. We all stepped up,” Linn added.
With the win tonight, Peterson and Tyler are tied for 3rd all-time with victories at 67, behind Les Ratzlaff's 105 and Joe Debely's 117 at THS.
Turlock’s next CCAL game will be on the road at Gregori High at 7 p.m. Friday.