Turlock Christian falls to Sierra Ridge in CCAA opener

Turlock Christian’s defense came up with several big plays to keep the team in Thursday night’s high school football matchup against Sierra Ridge/Rite of Passage.

Unfortunately for the Eagles, their offense couldn’t take advantage of those big plays and the Rams pulled away for a 20-8 win in the Central California Athletic Alliance opener Thursday night at Hilmar High’s McSweeney Field.

“Obviously, we wanted to win the game, and the kids wanted to win the game, but we don’t talk about wins,” said second-year TC coach Jake von Scherrer. “We talk about getting better. We’re still a young team. We’ve only got four seniors out there.”

Trailing 14-8 late in the third quarter, Turlock Christian’s offense went three-and-out, and ROP embarked on a long drive that took it deep into Eagles territory. But opportunity came knocking for TC when Jeremiah Hankins coughed up the ball on the 11th play and the Eagles recovered on their 12 with 7:18 to play in the fourth.

Turlock Christian moved out to the 25 on a 13-yard gain from Dominic Zendejas on second down, but the drive fizzled on the next series of downs and the Eagles punted.

ROP scored the clincher nine plays later when Gregory Smith raced around the left end and scored from 25 yards out for the final margin.

“We couldn’t get them off the field,” said von Scherrer. “And we went three-and-out two or three times.”

Officially, it was three, though one first-half drive ended with a fumble on just the second play.

Late in the first quarter, when the Rams held an 8-0 lead and were marching toward increasing their margin, defensive back Manny Preciado picked off a Tyler Nollen pass to give the Eagles the ball at their own 2. And while it might’ve been too much to expect the Eagles to drive 98 yards, a few first downs would have allowed them to flip the field and play on the other side of the 50. But TC went three-and-out for the second time in the first quarter and punted from its 5. The Rams took over on the Eagles’ 30 and were at the 12 three plays later.

But Preciado again rode to the rescue.

On second-and-6, Preciado stepped in front of Nollen’s pass at the 7 and raced 93 yards for a game-tying touchdown.

On ROP’s ensuing possession, Turlock Christian’s Coleman Kirkendall sacked Nollen on fourth down and the Eagles got the ball on the Rams’ 45, and a golden chance to take the lead, with just less than four minutes left in the first half.

Turlock Christian’s offense couldn’t capitalize, fumbling away the ball two plays later when quarterback Jakob Skinner was sacked. ROP was now presented with a golden scoring opportunity, taking over on TC’s 45 with 3:37 left.

But Turlock Christian’s defense forced a fumble with 15 seconds left in the half as the Rams neared the red zone.

After the half, the Rams took control when they embarked on a 17-play, 65-yard drive that chewed up nearly nine minutes of the third quarter. Manuel Alvarez-Padilla scored on a six-yard run to give ROP a 14-8 lead with 3:21 to play in the third.

“We just went back to the dive play and went back to just blocking the guy in front you,” said ROP coach Jesus Tapia. “And making sure the guy in front of you doesn’t make the tackle. We took the thinking out of it for our guys.”

This story was originally published September 25, 2015 at 2:18 PM with the headline "Turlock Christian falls to Sierra Ridge in CCAA opener."