Turlock’s comeback falls just short in Monday matchup against Clayton Valley Charter
Turlock High School came into Monday’s game focused on beating the 2019 Division 2AA Champion Clayton Valley Charter Ugly Eagles after losing on the road in their last matchup.
The game originally scheduled for Friday night had to be rescheduled twice due to local fires affecting the air quality on both Friday and Saturday afternoons.
The Bulldogs might have been just a little bit too ready for the matchup. A combination of pass interference and holding penalties kept Turlock moving backward more than forward in the first half.
“We definitely won more yardage on penalties tonight so we have to fix that,” Turlock head coach James Peterson said. “It’s hard enough come out here and get a good kickoff return, but then you have a kickoff return called back 15 yards for personal fouls, that’s not good for your team.”
The Ugly Eagles opened up an early 14-0 lead and it looked like the two teams would be headed for a repeat of the 2019 game. The Bulldogs were able to crawl their way back into the game but a late touchdown run put the game away for good as Clayton Valley beat Turlock 35-23.
After going down by 14 early, the defense stepped up to secure Turlock’s first points courtesy of a safety. After gaining back possession, Turlock quarterback Cole Gilbert connected on a 33-yard pass to Logan Hart which set up a short three-yard touchdown pass to Peter Mello.
“We got hit in the mouth early on and we responded,” Peterson said. “That’s my dream. Defense play well, get the ball back to the offense, offense score points. That’s the complete package.”
After getting back in the game by halftime, Turlock allowed two rushing touchdowns in the third quarter.
The Ugly Eagles gutted the Bulldogs’ defense, including a 57-yard touchdown run on their first play of the quarter. That was followed by a 10-play drive, all runs, that ended in Clayton Valley Charter quarterback Brenden Bush’s second touchdown run of the game.
Short offensive drives led to the Turlock defense spending extended amounts of time on the field.
“I think they caught us tired and they really outlasted us,” Peterson said. “They leaned on us and we bent just a little bit too much today.”
The Bulldogs offense settled in later in the game. They mixed run and pass plays on a drive that ended in three straight completed passes, including Gilbert connecting on a touchdown pass to Logan Hart from 15 yards out. Hart finished the game with five catches for 73 yards and one touchdown
After throwing an interception on his second pass attempt of the game, Gilbert got his targets involved. He connected with five different receivers and threw for 257 yards and two touchdowns on the day.
Jamel Foreman finished the game with 14 carries and 56 yards rushing, the most important being his eight-yard touchdown run that cut Turlock’s deficit to 5 with 7:09 remaining.
Clayton Valley sealed the game with a 13-play drive that ended with a touchdown right up the middle, leaving just 38 seconds on the clock.
“This team’s got heart, so if we can play a game with no time limit, we’re going to win,” Peterson said with a smile. “We’ve just got to take advantage of our moments.”
With a short week going into their next game, Peterson knows his team has some work to do.
Peterson says his players will get treatment and begin to gameplan for Friday’s opponent, Bullard.
This story was originally published August 31, 2021 at 7:00 AM.
