Hughson High varsity football head coach Shaun King was well aware of the challenge ahead of him in the 2026 season after losing 32 players to graduation this past summer.
Despite a 27-20 loss to Patterson on Friday night at Husky Memorial Stadium — the team’s first loss through three weeks of play — the ninth-year skipper was proud of the way his young team responded to adversity to nearly pull off another classic comeback after trailing 20-6 at halftime.
Hughson opened the third quarter with a 24-yard touchdown rush by junior Caden Bowerman, and threatened to tie the game early in the final frame when a 12-play drive, six-minute drive boiled down to a fourth-and-goal handoff to Bowerman from the five. He was tackled two yards short of the goal line.
Later in the fourth quarter, the Tigers handed the ball to former Turlock High running back Alex Ventura six times over nine plays to extend the lead to 27-14 with a minute to play, but Hughson answered on the very next play from scrimmage when senior Titus Beers broke free for a 71-yard score. An onside kick was recovered by the Tigers to clinch the game.
The Huskies dropped to 2-1 and will be on the road for the first time this season against Linden next week. The Lions improved to 2-1 on Friday after a 28-14 win of Golden Valley in Merced.
“The goals haven’t changed for this team,” said King, whose team came into the contest ranked third in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division IV rankings by MaxPreps behind Twelve Bridges (Lincoln) and Patterson. “We still have a long season ahead, and that's a pretty good ball club over there. We played with them for all four quarters, so I’m a proud coach right now.”
The Huskies had a flurry of special teams miscues in the first half. Thinking they had held the Tigers to a third three-and-out to start the game, a fake punt was perfectly executed by Caden Lozano, who ran 21 yards on fourth and 3. Five plays later, Lozano broke the scoreless tie with a 27-yard touchdown catch.
On the other end of the connection was another former Turlock Bulldog, junior quarterback Scout Silva, who transferred to Patterson alongside Ventura over the offseason. Silva was predominantly kept in check through the early stages of Friday’s contest, sacked twice and hurried into two just two incompletions and just one throw for positive yards before the fake punt.
The Huskies responded to score with another 12-play, seven-minute drive that ended with a 15-yard rushing touchdown by sophomore Blake Hobbs.
The Hughson celebration short lived as Ventura returned the ensuing kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown.
As for Silva, he went on to complete six of his next seven attempts for over 100 yards after the special teams conversion, including a 21-yard strike to Giovonni Jefferson that set up a 1-yard rushing score from Ventura to make it a 20-6 with 30 seconds left in the half.
Silva finished with 133 passing yards on 10 completions, his top target being Lozano with 98 yards on seven catches. Ventura ran for 53 yards on 12 carries.
Silva’s gunslinging counterpart, sophomore Hudson Baldwin, completed eight of 16 attempts for 128 yards. Hobbs led the way on the ground for the Huskies with 107 yards on 13 carries. Bowerman added 64 yards over 11 rushes.
“We showed that we're a young team, and we made ‘young team’ mistakes that we're going to get fixed,” King said of the loss, which was only the third home loss the Huskies have suffered in as many years. “Every mistake that happened today are ones that are made when you’re a young team. But I'm very proud of the effort. We'll get right, and we’ll probably see those guys again.”
