Dogs' day: Budding football rivals Turlock and Tracy tangle over a chew toy.
Two ’Dogs, one bone.
Those are the stakes Friday evening when the Turlock and Tracy High football teams clash at Wayne Schneider Stadium in Tracy. The perpetual trophy is a Flintstones-sized dogbone painted in blue and green, the budding rival’s colors.
“The largest bone from the pet store,” said Turlock coach James Peterson.
"The Dogbone” resides in the trophy case at Turlock (1-1), The Bee’s fifth-ranked large-school team and the defending Central California Conference champions. Turlock has won the last two meetings, including a 24-7 decision last fall.
Tracy (1-1), which defeated Turlock twice during the 2014 season, is looking for its second straight win over a CCC contender. Dual-threat quarterback Logan Fife accounted for six touchdowns in a 51-30 victory over Buhach Colony last week.
“For my class and for the teams I’ve played on, it’s always a big game,” said third-year varsity player Dustin Grein. “Everyone gets hyped up, talking about 'The Dogbone.' It’s become a tradition, and it makes for an intense game.”
Turlock climbed in power rankings after stunning Central Section power Clovis last week. Grein had an 88-yard interception return and then blocked the potential game-tying extra point to secure a 14-13 victory. Grein credits the scouting report put together by defensive coordinator Raven Keene. On his pick-6, Grein said he knew Clovis was going to throw a pop pass to the tight end. He jumped the route and went the other way untouched.
“Our defense, we’ve got some hungry guys out there,” Grein said. “We know we have to make up for offense, at least for now while they’re still getting things together. We have to make plays, and last week, we did it.”
The defense accounted for all 14 of Turlock’s points. Antonio Ruiz-Suarez also returned an interception for a score.
“The defense showed up, that’s for sure,” Peterson said. “Dustin Grein showed up. He went after that PAT and blocked it. Right about then, all at once, you’re looking around and it’s like, ‘There are no flags. No false starts. Everyone’s safe.’ ”
Grein is a special talent, a two-way player for Peterson and returning all-Central California Conference performer. The 6-foot-1 senior starts at strong safety and wide receiver. He has drawn interest from Sacramento State, Cal Poly, UC Davis, Weber State and Wyoming, and his stock rises with each new feat.
“He’s the type of guy that is no nonsense,” Peterson said. “He’s about the business; he comes to work. He showed up on Friday. We needed big plays and he stepped up for us.”
Stealing a victory at Clovis’ Lamonica Stadium will only aid his recruitment. It also gives the 'Dog with "The Bone" a little more bite.
“It was a great atmosphere,” Peterson said. “Talk about a hostile environment. They have a lot of support down there; a lot of fans show up. Everyone’s involved. To come out of that game with a victory was just amazing. I felt like it was a slugfest, two teams battling all night in the heat.”
Peterson wasn’t sure he was going to see that kind of fight from his team. One week earlier, Turlock “hung their hats” against Freedom, a state-ranked team out of the North Coast Section. Freedom took apart Turlock in their season and home opener, 34-16.
“The previous game there was some hat-hanging,” Peterson said. “Freedom got up on us early. I think the guys realized when we were in Clovis that, hey, we can play with these guys. We can win this game. That says a lot about our football team, especially because they faced some adversity.”
As impressed as Peterson was with Grein, he was proudest most of the bounce-back performance from running back Tyler Etharidge, who had a team-high 155 yards on 22 carries. Etharidge fumbled into the Clovis end zone, spoiling the offense’s best scoring chance. Clovis recovered the ball for a touchback. Instead of mope, Etharidge continued to plug away, extending drives with each carry.
Though the offense didn’t score, Peterson credited Etharidge and Co. for sustaining drives long enough to give the defense a rest. Etharidge averaged 7 yards per carry and the offense won the possession battle, holding the ball for more than 25 minutes.
“In the past, guys would have got on him a little bit,” Peterson said. “In the past, we would have been bummed out and hung our hats. But the team rallied around him in that moment. He came back out and took the next offensive possession.”
To contact reporter James Burns, email jburns@modbee.com, or follow him on Twitter @jburns1980.
This story was originally published September 6, 2017 at 12:03 PM with the headline "Dogs' day: Budding football rivals Turlock and Tracy tangle over a chew toy.."