Hut, hut, hike: High school football gets going with Saturday scrimmages

Jeremy Plaa and the Downey football team will hit the road Saturday looking for answers at several key positions.

The Knights travel to Elk Grove to scrimmage Monterey Trail in what amounts to a final audition before the games become official on Aug. 28.

The three-time defending Modesto Metro Conference champions open with Pitman at Hughes Stadium.

While it may seem like Plaa and his coaching staff have waited until the last minute to finalize their depth chart, the eighth-year coach said this is all a part of the Downey way.

“That’s just how we do things,” he said. “We compete until the end of the practice. Playing time isn’t guaranteed for us.”

Turlock won’t travel nearly as far for its scrimmage, but the competition promises to be as tough.

In one of the marquee local scrimmages, Turlock will clash with Highway 165 neighbors Los Banos and Hilmar at McSweeney Field in Hilmar.

Ceres and Central Valley will host a six-team jamboree. On that guest list: Modesto in its first season under Donnie Wallace; Modesto Christian, the reigning Trans-Valley League champion; Enochs and explosive return man Eddie Alderson; and West of Tracy.

Ripon will host Manteca, Sonora and Grace Davis, while Central Catholic welcomes Buhach Colony and Calaveras.

Orestimba will find out how competitive it can be in the Southern League and beyond. The Warriors, who have their sights set on their first outright league championship in 34 years, will host larger schools Pacheco, Hughson and East Union.

Oakdale travels outside the district to face Tracy, a Division I finalist last season, while Pitman and Gregori lock horns at Don Lanphear Stadium.

“Playing a good, physical team like Pitman will give us an indication where we measure up,” Gregori coach Jason McCoy said. “We hope to see our guys executing our plays and playing hard every play. We also will get a chance to see how the team handles adversity in certain situations.”

Coaches agree: The No. 1 objective is to avoid injury. While Turlock head coach James Peterson wants his team to play fast and physical, the Bulldogs will obey a quick whistle.

“We want to come in and have a great day and be healthy at the end,” he said. “We want everybody to show well and make it out of the scrimmage.”

Turlock will have a dogfight on its hands. Los Banos has reached the Sac-Joaquin Section Division IV semifinal round in two of the last three years under head coach Dustin Caropreso, while Hilmar’s Frank Marques has led the Yellowjackets to two section titles.

“I feel like both coaches run solid programs. Two years ago, Hilmar was in the section championship game. Los Banos has always had great athletes,” Peterson said. “We all have the same philosophy going in. We’re not telling the kids to go out there and rip kids’ heads off. We want to keep it pretty vanilla, blow a quick whistle and get out of the game healthy.”

Plaa turns his team buses north searching for answers at several key positions.

Call it an embarrassment of riches. Plaa said he has a surplus of talented kids fighting for starting spots in the secondary, at wide receiver and along the offensive and defensive lines.

He will keep those position battles going into next week, but put a heavy emphasis on Saturday’s performances against a Division I semifinalist.

“Who will be our starting wide receivers? Who will be our starting DBs?” he asked rhetorically. “I’d say two-thirds of our positions are still up for grabs.”

This kind of summer-long competition has brought out the best in the Knights, who have gone 27-4 with two 10-win seasons in the last three years.

“Competition gets the most out of a team,” Plaa said. “They have to compete to get better.”

Downey will be thrown to the wolves on Saturday. Head coach T.J. Ewing has raised Monterey Trail from its infancy, winning 10 or more games twice while bringing the program to the brink of a section final berth in 2014.

Plaa didn’t intend to scrimmage the Mustangs, but suddenly found himself without a dance partner midway through the summer. The Knights were dropped by Lathrop.

“We looked everywhere, high and low, trying to piggyback on somebody’s scrimmage,” Plaa said. “Monterey Trail actually contacted us.

“They’re good. They’ll get us ready for Pitman. Their kids are disciplined and they’re usually in the top 3 with Grant and Elk Grove. I don’t know if our kids know what’s coming ... what level of football these kids will bring to us (Saturday).”

This story was originally published August 21, 2015 at 7:30 PM with the headline "Hut, hut, hike: High school football gets going with Saturday scrimmages."