Games to watch: Top Stanislaus District high school football matchups for Week 2
Blowouts, close finishes, upsets; you name it, opening week of the high school football season had it.
Heading into Week 2, coaches say they’ve learned a lot about what their teams need to improve on.
Week 2 brings about new challenges as COVID-19 related issues have caused game cancellations across California, most notably in the Stanislaus District, Edison at Oakdale.
1. Hilmar (1-0) at Los Banos (0-1) at Loftin Stadium, 7 p.m.
Hilmar’s air attack showed itself in Week 1’s 27-20 win over Patterson. Quarterback Camron Moak completed 14 of 26 passes for 177 yards and three touchdowns. Derek Taylor caught five for 117 yards and all three of the touchdowns in the air.
Hilmar has dominated the previous two matchups with Los Banos winning by an average of 31 points.
2. Gregori (1-0) at Merced (0-1) at Merced College, 7 p.m.
Gregori escaped Week 1 with a narrow win over Buhach Colony, 18-15. Quarterback Cruz Marines led the offense with 168 passing yards and added 69 yards on the ground to account for 237 of the team’s 306 total yards on offense. He also threw one passing touchdown and ran for a score.
The team goes into Week 2 looking to defeat its second Central California Conference team in as many weeks.
The last matchup with Merced in 2019 produced a double overtime thriller that ended in a 27-21 Gregori home victory.
Now on the road, Gregori faces a test against a tough Merced team that stormed back against Central Catholic and barely lost 31-28.
Gregori’s defense recorded 54 total tackles and three tackles for loss last week. Jake McBay led the way with eight tackles and one tackle for loss. They will need that again against Merced to slow down its passing attack.
3. Waterford (1-0) at Big Valley Christian (0-0) at Big Valley Christian, 7:15 p.m.
Big Valley Christian heads into Week 2 coming off a first-week bye. The Lions finished the spring on a two-game win streak to bring their record up to 2-2.
The Lions struggled early in the last meeting with Waterford in 2019 but erupted for 20 points in the fourth but the comeback came up short in a 28-27 loss.
Waterford quarterback Aaron Adams’ Week 1 ended early after he suffered a mid-ankle sprain against Stone Ridge Christian on the first drive of the second half, but the team still rolled to a 44-14 win.
Caleb Hilton led the team on three straight scoring drives and Ryan Hilton added a touchdown in the fourth quarter.
Waterford head coach Adam Hilton says he expects Adams will be ready to go on Friday.
4. Davis (1-0) at Chavez - Stockton (1-0) at Chavez High School, 7:15 p.m.
Davis opened its season with a win for the first time since 2017 in a 28-0 steamrolling of Weston Ranch. Isaac Martinez rushed for three first-half touchdowns and the defense forced an interception and recovered a fumble.
Chavez put up 26 points in a two score victory against Mountain House, a team that Davis beat by one point during the spring.
5. Amador (0-1) at Ceres (1-0) at Ceres High School, 7 p.m.
Ceres rolled all over its Week 1 opponent West (Tracy) and that leaves the question, can Ceres continue?
Tarrell Lee-Gill led Ceres on offense. The running back had 10 carries for 148 yards and three touchdowns.
Amador finished the 2019-2020 season 10-2 and first in the Mother Lode League at 4-1.
6. Clayton Valley Charter (0-0) at Turlock (0-1) at Turlock High School, 7 p.m.
Turlock had its opening game postponed one day after the Sacramento area’s troubles with the Dixie and Caldor Fires. The Bulldogs were then shut out by Rocklin, 41-0.
Six Turlock players were forced to sit after being ruled close contacts of positive COVID-19 cases and they had to go into the game without starting quarterback Cole Gilbert.
This is the second matchup between the two schools in three seasons after not playing in the spring. The Ugly Eagles beat the Bulldogs 21-7 in 2019.
Clayton Valley Charter comes in at No. 16 in the newest Maxreps Northern California Top 25 football rankings.
7. Enochs (1-0) at West (Tracy) (0-1), at West High School, 7 p.m.
Enochs started its season off with a dominant 56-0 win over Beyer behind quarterback Keith Orona’s three touchdown passes of 32, 42 and 56 yards in the blowout.
West comes into the game on the receiving end of a shutout. They lost to Ceres 49-0 and gave up first and second quarters of 22 and 20 points, respectively.
The two teams have met three times in the last four seasons with Enochs winning two of the three, the most recent a 32-14 win in 2019.
8. Saint Francis (Mountain View) (0-0) at Central Catholic (1-0) at Central Catholic High School, 7 p.m.
Central Catholic dominated in the first half of its home opener against Merced but barely escaped with a 31-28 win after it failed to score in the second half.
There is still a quarterback competition playing out at Central Catholic. Senior Dominic Perino got the start but sophomore Tyler Wentworth got snaps as well in between his time on defense.
Saint Francis squeezed into the updated Maxpreps Northern California Top 25 and Central Catholic made the “Next 10” at 35.
9. Lincoln (Stockton) (0-1) at Downey (0-1) at Downey High School, 7 p.m.
Week 1 wasn’t kind to either team but Downey’s loss was a big surprise. Manteca won 46-14 and the Knights had no answer for the run game. They gave up 368 yards on the ground including two separate 100-plus yard rushing performances.
Head coach Jeremy Plaa had high praise for Manteca, calling them “as good of a team that we’ve played that I can remember.”
Downey and Lincoln had to scramble to make this game possible after both teams’ original opponents had to bow out because of COVID-19 issues withing their programs.
Downey is projected to be one of the top teams in the Central California Athletic League Can they bounce back in Week 2 against team trying to recover from a disappointing Week 1 performance as well?
10. Escalon (1-0) at Calaveras (1-0) at Calaveras High School, 7 p.m.
Calaveras comes into Week 2 after a 40-14 Week 1 win over the McNair Eagles.
Escalon finished the 2019-2020 season with a 14-1 record and ended up third in the trans Valley League and finished the spring with a 2-1 record. They started off the season with a 55-30 win over Linden.
Games between Calaveras and Escalon are physical but Escalon has won two of the last three meetings including a 24-7 win in their last matchup.
This story was originally published August 27, 2021 at 6:00 AM.
