Roundup: Turlock, Central Catholic victories highlight big night for Stanislaus District teams
After playing nearly perfect in a 35-0 first-round win over Edison last week, the Turlock High football team knew it would have to play even better Friday night to knock off Division I second-seeded and unbeaten St. Mary’s.
In a back-and-forth affair that looked like whoever could make a defensive stand would win, it was the Bulldogs who came up with a game winning interception to secure the school’s biggest upset in recent memory in the Sac-Joaquin Section D-I quarterfinals, 51-50.
Cole Gilbert threw for four touchdowns, rushed for two and caught a 4-yard touchdown pass from Vincent Gonzalez to help lead the Bulldogs to victory.
Turlock scored 19 unanswered first-half points to take a 19-7 lead midway through the second quarter. The Rams scored three touchdowns to end the half and allowed just one to go into the break ahead 28-27.
The sides traded touchdowns for the majority of the second half and with just over one minute remaining, Gilbert connected with Peter Mello for a 24-yard touchdown pass and found Andrew Johnson for the two-point conversion for a 51-50 lead.
Johnson came up with the Bulldogs’ only interception to end the Rams’ final drive with just over 20 seconds remaining.
Mello and Joshua Weatherbee had big receiving games, collecting 112 and 111 yards, respectively, and a touchdown each.
No. 5 Central Catholic 56, No. 4 Monterey Trail 29: The Raiders beat the Mustangs in the postseason for the second season in a row. After winning the Division II section title last season, Friday’s quarterfinal blowout showed the Raiders are not going to roll over in D-I. Central Catholic held the Monterey Trail to seven first-half points, opening up a 21-7 lead heading into the intermission. The offense exploded in the second half, scoring 35 points.
Tyler Jacklich rushed for over 280 yards and scored on the ground four times. Tyler Wentworth threw two touchdown passes and rushed for one more.
The Raiders travel to top-ranked Folsom next week with a trip to the D-I title game on the line.
No. 1 Sutter 14, No. 8 Ripon 0: Ripon was unable to end Sutter’s unbeaten season as the Huskies scored twice in the second half, moving to 11-0. The D-V quarterfinal matchup was a defensive battle from the start as the two sides went into halftime tied 0-0. A passing touchdown with seconds left in the third quarter broke the tie and a pick-6 with just over 3 minutes, 30 seconds left in the game sealed the win for Sutter.
No. 3 Orestimba 39, No. 6 Colfax 13: The Warriors used a 20-point second quarter to break the game open against visiting Colfax. With the win, Orestimba remains an unbeaten 6-0 at home and extends its win streak to nine games. It will play the Trans-Valley League’s Hughson in the D-VI semifinals next Friday.
No. 2 Hughson 35, No. 7 Twelve Bridges 34 (2OT): The Huskies proved the importance of senior leadership against a hungry, upstart Twelve Bridges team playing with no seniors. It was a defensive battle in the first half as the teams entered intermission of the D-VI matchup tied 7-7.
A 13-point third quarter gave Hughson a slight advantage but they were unable to score in the fourth to put the game away. A Rhinos touchdown sent the game to overtime tied 20-20. Both teams scored in the first overtime and Twelve Bridges struck first in the second. Liam Bridgford answered with a rushing touchdown and Robert McDaniel threw the game-winning two point conversion pass to David Delgado.
Bridgford finished with three rushing touchdowns and 186 yards. The Raging Rhinos won’t be in the lower divisions long as next season they could move up as high as Division III because of a jump in enrollment.
No. 1 Ripon Christian 57, No. 8 Rio Vista 0: The top seeded Knights blanked Rio Vista on the road Friday night in the D-VII quarterfinals. They pulled ahead 41-0 after two quarters and coasted to victory. Ripon Christian meets Stone Ridge Christian in the semifinals at a neutral location as neither team is allowed to host due to CIF sanctions.
This story was originally published November 12, 2022 at 11:26 AM.
