Modesto’s Enochs crushed in opener by Turlock, 43-7

Last year, when Turlock High School backup quarterback Peyton Dunseth relieved starter Bubba Moreno for one play, he told his teammates in the huddle, “OK, guys, I’m going to be a game manager.”

That tag is anathema to most quarterbacks, as it implies they are somehow less skilled than other signal callers.

“I’m perfectly fine with it,” said Dunseth, the clear-cut starter this year who led the Bulldogs to a season-opening 43-7 thumping of Enochs on Friday night at Joe Debely Stadium.

Managing the game was all Dunseth needed to do against the Eagles, who had little success moving the ball against Turlock’s stout defense. The Bulldogs’ strength is a linebacker corps that features Mustafa Noel-Johnson, Jericho Taamu and Chris Silva.

Turlock will get a far stiffer test this week when it travels to take on nonconference rival Oakdale, which won 40-15 over a Sonora team that many think will return to the Sac-Joaquin Section Division IV championship game.

The Mustangs, of course, were the Valley Oak League co-champions and Division III section kings for the second time in three years in 2014, reaching a Northern California regional bowl game for the second time in school history.

Turlock’s linebackers passed their first test. Next week, the secondary might get a workout against Mustangs quarterback Adam Olsen, who was 13 of 15 for 310 yards and four touchdowns against Sonora.

Enochs picked up a first down on its first series but then turned over the ball on downs, giving the Bulldogs the ball on the Eagles’ 45. Six plays later, Danny Velasquez scored on a 4-yard burst into the end zone for the first six points of the season. David Rios’ extra point gave Turlock a 7-0 lead.

The short TD was set up by a 25-yard gainer from Velasquez (seven carries, 89 yards), a junior two-way player who spent much of the second half battling leg cramps.

“That’s his nature,” said Turlock’s seventh-year coach, James Peterson. “He goes so hard, and he plays both ways. I’m real proud of him.”

With the temperature at 100 degrees at kickoff, both coaching staffs knew cramps would be an issue throughout the game.

After Velasquez’s touchdown, Brandon Booz (10 carries, 81 yards) scored from the 20 with 2:28 to play in the first quarter, and Dustin Grein burst in from the 6 with 7:42 left in the second quarter as the Bulldogs took a 21-0 cushion into the locker room.

Dunseth, who was an efficient 7 for 12 for 72 yards passing and carried the ball 10 times for 80 yards, scored on runs of 19 and 6 yards within four minutes midway through the third quarter before the Eagles finally scored on Tyler Butterfield’s 3-yard blast.

“That touchdown was very important,” said Enochs’ seventh-year coach, James Stacy. “It charged them up a little bit.

“We made some mistakes that we need to clean up, but I liked the way we competed. We fought hard throughout.”

Stacy pulled starting quarterback Travis Graham midway through the contest in favor of Chris Olson Jr. but said there’s no question as to who his starter will be Friday in Atwater against Buhach Colony.

“Travis Graham is my starting quarterback,” Stacy said. “We’re going with him.”

This story was originally published August 28, 2015 at 11:56 PM with the headline "Modesto’s Enochs crushed in opener by Turlock, 43-7."