Downey hands Turlock its first-ever CCAL football defeat. Here’s how the Knights did it
Since the formation of the Central California Athletic Conference in 2018, the Turlock High football team has had its way with its fellow members.
The Bulldogs entered Friday night’s game against Downey with a 16-0 overall conference mark and three league titles.
In a span of about four minutes against a Knights team riding a five-game winning streak, perfection vanished for Turlock.
Downey quarterback Conner Stoddard rushed for three fourth-quarter touchdowns – including the game-changer on fourth down – and the Knights’ defense pitched a second-half shutout en route to a 38-14 victory.
“Our defense showed out tonight and our offense was able to keep drives going in the fourth quarter when it mattered the most,” Downey coach Jeremy Plaa said. “The kids wanted it, they sniffed it, they went after it and they finished them off.”
In a game highlighted by big plays in the first half, it was the little things that lifted Downey to 6-1 overall, 2-0 in the CCAL.
Led by safety David Jones, who had two of his three interceptions in the second half, the Knights held Turlock scoreless over the final 24 minutes.
On its six second-half possessions, the Bulldogs were forced to punt or quick kick the ball away three times, and were intercepted three times. Their talented running back, JT Foreman, who entered the game with 665 yards rushing, was held to a season-low 50 yards on 19 carries.
“Defensively, they were flying around,” Turlock coach James Peterson said. “They were geared up and ready to stop our run. They made us one-dimensional.”
On offense, the key play came with 7 minutes, 31 seconds left in the game.
After forcing a three-and-out, Downey, leading by the same 17-14 score it did at halftime, drove 59 yards and had 1st-and-goal on the 1.
Three plays and a false start later, the Knights bypassed a field goal and decided to go for it from the 6 yard line. Out of the shotgun, Stoddard saw Turlock was in a man defense. Although it was designed to be a pass play, when he saw the middle open up, he decided to run it in.
“That was 100 percent Conner,” Plaa said. “He made a great play, and that’s what ended the game basically.”
On Turlock’s first play after the kickoff, the Bulldogs tried a little trickery that backfired. On a flea-flicker attempt, quarterback Cole Gilbert took the snap, threw a backward pass to Morgan Perrien, who then threw into double-coverage and was picked off by Jones.
Eight plays later, Stoddard scored again.
“This validates everything we’ve been doing,” said Stoddard a junior who labeled Friday’s victory as the biggest of his career. “Everything the coaches have been telling us, that we’re better than this, and how we’ve been playing, it just validates that. It shows we can do this.”
Turlock, which had rebounded from an 0-4 start to win its last two games, appeared to have momentum heading into halftime thanks to a couple of sure-handed receivers.
Down 10-0 after Downey’s Elijah Stine (20 carries, 104 yards) broke several tackles on a nifty 22-yard TD run up the middle, Marcos Rodriguez made a diving grab over the middle and fell into the end zone to get the Bulldogs to within 10-6.
Late in the second quarter, after wide receiver Hayden Grant caught a Stoddard 20-yard strike in traffic to put Downey up 17-6, Turlock’s Logan Hart pulled off the highlight of the night – and maybe the season.
The senior, who also had two interceptions from his safety spot, jumped high for a soft Gilbert pass and pulled it in with his left hand at the 41-yard line and ran the remaining 59 yards to cut the lead to 17-14.
“That was the best catch I’ve ever seen coaching high school ball,” Plaa said.
It also was the last time Turlock would score.
Gilbert complted 13 of 24 passes for 180 yards and two touchdowns. He also threw three picks. Stoddard, meanwhile, was 12 of 17 for 212 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions.
As for the significance of the victory against a program that in going 16-0 in the CCAL had won all but one of those games by double-digits?
“It’s huge,” Plaa said. “Our goal is to win the CCAL title. We know that Turlock is the top of the mountain. They are the ones that have the bull’s-eye on their back. From 2012 to 2016, we had the bull’s eye on our back when we won the (Modesto Metro Conference) title five years in a row. It’s a lot of pressure for those guys, too.
“But our entire offseason is dedicated to finding ways to beat Turlock.”
This story was originally published October 9, 2021 at 1:26 AM.
