Turlock and Downey prepare for another matchup with CCAL football title on the line
Everyone in the Central California Athletic League knows one thing: The outright league champion will have to go undefeated.
The six-team league that had its first season during the 2018-19 school year saw Turlock join from the Central California Conference and Downey move over from the Modesto Metro.
Turlock won the first three league titles and Downey took last year’s crown. During that time, the league winner didn’t lose a game.
“The league champions have gone undefeated since the CCAL has been a thing so that’s why I think if you take the ‘L’ there’s no chance of you winning league,” Turlock coach James Peterson said. “It’s just one of those things everybody knows in the back of their head, you drop one (game) it’s just that much tougher to win the league title.”
Downey coach Jeremy Plaa also knows the importance of Friday’s matchup. “We look forward to this game all year long. It’s the one that we have to win to win League.”
The two sides have played eight times since 2004. Before the construction of the CCAL, Downey and Turlock didn’t play each other very often. Prior to the 2018 season, the two matched up in 2004, 2005, 2010 and 2011. They’ve played four times in the past four seasons, and Turlock has won six of the past eight matchups. Downey won in 2004 and last season.
They will play again at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 7 at Turlock High.
“It’s been amped up since we’ve been in the same league,” Plaa said of the historical anticipation of the game. “They won the first three years and we won last year. I think it’s been the marquee game in our league essentially since it started. Before that, we didn’t really play each other.”
Players have seen the excitement grow with each year they’ve suited up against one another.
“That anticipation just gets higher and higher and it becomes more of a rivalry,” Turlock running back JT Foreman II said. “It’s almost more of a rivalry than Pitman. Ever since my freshman year, when I was moved up to varsity, it’s just been a clash so I’m excited to play them.”
Like Foreman II, Downey quarterback Conner Stoddard has seen the atmosphere surrounding the game grow with time.
“My sophomore year it felt like a big deal but it didn’t feel like a rivalry,” Stoddard said. “Then last year, it turned up a notch, and it’s been the same this year.”
Plaa says Downey is the healthiest it’s been all season.
By the end of Week 2, the Knights had three key players go down with injuries and all of them are returning just in time. Defensive ends Jack Hinchey and Derrick Kirkendall were injured in the season opener against Lincoln and they are back to take an already great defense to the next level.
The Knights were only allowing 12 points a game, but the defensive line was thin.
“Now we will be better on our front,” linebacker and last year’s CCAL Defensive Player of the Year Richard Williams said. “We’re going to be running our base defense but our front six is just gonna be overpowering. Our ends will be able to crash down more often compared to how they’ve been.”
Turlock senior quarterback Cole Gilbert battled through injury and illness last season and though he was able to play in the 38-14 Downey win, he wasn’t fully himself.
“It’s just a big revenge for me,” Gilbert said of this year’s matchup. “I got hurt last year and was coming off an injury so now that I’m healthy, I want to win more than ever.”
Both teams’ non-league schedules prepared them for Friday.
Downey’s first five opponents were lined up to get them used to things they would see from Turlock. Teams such as Lincoln, Tracy and Merced had athleticism and speed on defense that resemble what the three-time CCAL champions show.
“I saw that in Lincoln how they just had really good individuals, which is pretty similar to Turlock and then with Tracy, how they were very well coached and knew where to be and didn’t really miss assignments,” Stoddard said. “Turlock is the same way, they’re very well coached. I feel like combining those two is what makes Turlock’s defense.”
The Knights finished the first part of their schedule perfect and after winning their first league game against Modesto last week, enter the game 6-0.
“We all knew that this game was coming up, but at the same time, we knew that we had to focus on one game at a time and if we did that, we would be prepared for this game,” Stoddard said. “We didn’t act like it wasn’t going to come up, but we didn’t make it bigger than it actually was.”
Turlock’s season-opening win against Rocklin was huge, but after losses to Fresno’s Clovis West and Central, the Bulldogs’ preseason took a disappointing turn. Picking up a win against Clayton Valley Charter turned things back around.
“We saw a lot of competition that prepared us for league,” Gilbert said. “I think that made us better as a team and I think we’ll definitely be ready.”
Both teams bring experience with multiple two- and three-year varsity players, which only adds to the game’s allure. The hype only grows with every year and Friday night’s game has the possibility to be the best yet.
“We know a lot about each other,” Peterson said. “We’re always going to try to come up with a little wrinkle and I know they’ll do the same. That’s just the nature of it. We have them well scouted and they’re no different with us.”
This story was originally published October 6, 2022 at 12:58 PM.
