Take a trip around the district for Saturday’s football scrimmages

The high school football season arrived Saturday with scrimmages across the Stanislaus District. The Modesto Bee’s James Burns (@jburns1980) and Joe Cortez (@modbeepreps), with help from the Merced Sun-Star’s Shawn Jansen (@MSSsports), visited multiple sites from Atwater to Ripon, providing real-time coverage of more than 20 teams on Twitter before lunch was served. A diary of their Saturday travels:

9:08 a.m. – Cortez arrives at Ceres High School for a six-team scrimmage featuring co-hosts Ceres and Central Valley, Modesto, Enochs, Modesto Christian and West (Tracy). Miraculously, he found a parking space in the main lot.

9:18 a.m. – Ceres quarterback Chris Lubinsky quickly impresses. A 6-foot-3, 175-pound junior, “The Big Lubinsky” looks poised and comfortable in the pocket.

9:34 a.m. – Modesto Christian and Enochs take the field, and Crusaders all-district tailback Chris Brown goes around right end, then cuts back inside against the grain for a nice gainer. Brown, who rushed for more than 1,600 yards last year in leading the Crusaders to the Sac-Joaquin Section Division VI title game, must smear axle grease on his uniform. He just looks slippery.

9:36 a.m. – Moments after a short touchdown pass on a rollout to his right, MC quarterback Bransen Reynolds throws a 35-yard scoring strike to the left corner of the end zone.

9:48 a.m. – Enochs’ Eddie Alderson displays the form that made him one of the most elusive runners in the Modesto Metro Conference last season. One word comes to mind: shifty.

9:56 a.m. – Central Valley’s Moses Ghiorso intercepts a pass against West. Last year, Ghiorso had six interceptions, the most of any returning player in the Stanislaus District.

10 a.m. – In Modesto, Burns isn’t the only one excited for the new season. The Gregori parking lot is jammed and a line has formed at the gate leading into Don Lanphear Stadium. Great. Traffic is re-directed to the back of the school, where a few trucks and sport-utility vehicles have created their own “parking” on the sidewalk. Burns finds space in Riverbank (or so it seems) and begins the long trek back to the scrimmage.

10:04 a.m. – Back in Ceres, Ghiorso, now working as a tailback on the east end of the field against Modesto High, goes around left end for a touchdown. Too easy.

10:08 a.m. – In Modesto, Burns, wearing flip-flops, nearly tumbles down the grass hill leading to the field. With sweat on his brow, he films an intro for The Bee’s highlight reel. Without a tripod, to the casual observer, it might look like Burns is trying to take the perfect selfie in the end zone. And so what if he is. #ScrimmageSelfie

10:12 a.m. – In Ceres, Hawks running back Jamarea (pronounced Juh-mahr-ee-ay) Lumpkin cranks it up against Modesto. Lumpkin is the brother of former Central Valley great Ja’Quan Gardner, the Stanislaus District’s all-time career rushing leader (6,014 yards).

10:16 a.m. – In Modesto, Pitman quarterback Jacob Perez hands off to running back Blake McBay, who crashes into the end zone from 1 yard out. The Pride’s deceptive run attack has the Jaguars off-kilter. The Gregori coaching staff punishes poor play with push-ups, and, well, the sloppy-to-start Jaguars’ arms look good in this morning light.

10:25 a.m. – Remember this name: Cristian Cooley of the Pride. In a 10-minute stretch, the senior defensive end showcases his ability to play the run and pass. It begins with a crunching tackle on a Gregori running back. Cooley pounces on the Jaguar as he tries to cut inside. Cooley later frees his hands from an offensive lineman to bat down a pass at the line of scrimmage.

10:34 a.m. – It’s first and goal from the 1 for Pitman, and coach Tom Tyler begs for the knockout. “Let’s punch this in!” he shouts from behind the huddle. Gregori, with its beefy interior line, has other plans. A fumbled snap backs up Pitman 5 yards. Two plays later, the Jaguars complete the goal-line stand with a stop at the 2.

10:45 a.m. – Before leaving the field, Burns is stopped by a side judge. It’s the father of Beyer’s Micah Hall, The Bee’s All-District Baseball Player of the Year. He thanks The Bee for its baseball coverage. You ain’t seen nothing yet, Mr. Hall.

11:07 a.m. – Cortez arrives at David Patton Memorial Field at Central Catholic for a three-way scrimmage involving the three-time defending state champion Raiders, Calaveras and Buhach Colony.

11:03 a.m. – Burns turns onto Acacia Avenue in Ripon to find players and their families heading for their vehicles. “Am I too late?” he wonders. Burns rolls up on a player who informs him the varsity scrimmage between Ripon, Manteca, Sonora and Grace Davis is still going on. Whew!

11:04 a.m. – With no time to waste, Burns pulls into the principal’s parking spot … like a boss.

11:12 a.m. – His timing this morning is impeccable. Burns steps onto Stouffer Field in time to see a sensational catch by Grace Davis wide receiver Talolo Limu-Jones, who leaps over a smaller Ripon defensive back to make a juggling catch. The 6-foot-5 Limu-Jones stands tall through two tackles and drags a third Indian into the end zone. The play was set up by Davis coach Tim Garcia, who changed the call at the line of scrimmage. “Auto! Auto!” – as in “Get the ball to Mr. Automatic!”

11:25 a.m. – In Atwater, the host Falcons unveil a spread-veer option offense and enjoy immediate success against undersized Livingston. Atwater’s Noah Torres would score on runs of 35 and 20 yards. Fullback Michael Vargas would scamper 60 yards for a touchdown.

11:34 a.m. – It’s sophomore symposium in Ripon. Manteca safety Gino Campiotti turns Sonora tailback Kane Rodgers back inside, where another Manteca sophomore, Justin Kakala, flattens him. Buffaloes coach Eric Reis may start four sophomores on defense this fall.

11:35 a.m. – Dylan Byrd can play! The Calaveras quarterback keeps calm in the face of oncoming pressure and throws what appears to be a very catchable ball. Nice touch when he needs it; nice sizzle when it’s called for. He also has some weapons in Trevor Ramirez and Shane Torre.

11:44 a.m. – Central Catholic’s Montell Bland goes 35 yards, with a nice stiff-arm down about the 15, for a score on the first play of the Raiders’ offensive session.

11:48 a.m. – The Raiders’ Justin Rice, The Bee’s reigning All-District Player of the Year, goes up the middle and then breaks to the outside for a 35-yard touchdown.

11:47 a.m. – Raiders quarterback Hunter Petlansky steps up to avoid Calaveras’ pass rush and fires a strike to the corner of the end zone. Great pass and even better catch by a leaping DaRon Bland.

11:50 a.m. – The horn sounds at Stouffer Field, signaling the final offensive play for Manteca. Quarterback Dakarai Charles saves his best for last, stepping backward out of an ankle tackle, keeping his eyes downfield and making a flip pass to Jake Menasco for a first down.

12:12 p.m. – Central Catholic gathers for a team prayer at the end of the scrimmage. Unlike most teams, the Raiders won’t play Friday. They’re off until Sept. 4, when coach Roger Canepa goes for career win No. 200 at home against Atwater.

12:30 p.m. – Jansen arrives at Castle Field for the double-wing extravaganza between host Stone Ridge Christian, Delhi and Chowchilla. Delhi sets the early tone with strong runs by quarterback Louie Avalos and fullback Jesse Flores. Stone Ridge Christian defensive end Mark Hooker delivers the hit of the day on a Delhi running back, who was waiting for a high pitch from Avalos.

12:46 p.m. – Lunch is served.

6:07 p.m. – Cortez arrives at Big Valley Christian High School, where the Lions host Millennium (Tracy).

6:17 p.m. – Cortez ponders Millennium’s nickname (Falcons) and believes it’s the best in all of California. He’s sure “Star Wars” fans will agree.

6:35 p.m. – Somehow, BVC quarterback Noah Magana overthrows humongonaut tight end Daniel Giannosa (6-8, 235). This hardly seems possible. That probably won’t happen again all season.

6:50 p.m. – Cortez decides to pack it in for the day. Chips and salsa await.

This story was originally published August 22, 2015 at 6:39 PM with the headline "Take a trip around the district for Saturday’s football scrimmages."