Downey football coach says Friday’s loss can be a positive

For the second time in three years, Downey High School opened the football season with a loss to Pitman, blowing a big early lead each time.

The Knights, preseason favorites to win the Modesto Metro Conference, have to get back on track against a Patterson team that also is looking to get on track after a season-opening loss.

Technically, Downey and Patterson suffered road losses. Patterson fell 25-12 in Palo Alto, while the Knights fell to Pitman 33-22 at Gregori High. That game was relocated to Modesto when the artificial surface at Turlock’s Joe Debely Stadium was deemed unsafe for competition.

The goal for Downey coach Jeremy Plaa is to turn the negative of a defeat into a positive.

“I think if our kids come back more focused and ready to work and just get better and understand that we have a lot of little things to work on, I think it can definitely be a positive,” Plaa said at Monday’s Modesto Community Quarterback Club meeting. “They also have to learn to respect that our opponent has the exact same thing going on this week. So the focus has to be extremely intense to get back and get a win on Friday night.”

Patterson will take on Downey at Chuck Hughes Stadium at 7 p.m. Both teams utilize the spread offense. The Knights averaged 44 points per game last season, while the Tigers put up 49 per contest, winning their first 11 games before falling to Placer-Auburn 65-52 in the playoffs.

“That’s why we scheduled them,” said Plaa, whose Knights have a claimed at least a share of the past four Modesto Metro Conference titles. “We wanted to have the toughest preseason we could possibly have and try to compete against the best.”

In other news from Monday’s meeting:

▪ Davis defeated Bear Creek 14-13 last week, going for a two-point conversion in the fourth quarter.

The Spartans lined up for the two-point try, but after being flagged for a false start, coach Tim Garcia sent out the kicking unit. However, the snap was botched and Davis managed to scramble in for two points anyway.

“Defensively, we were playing real well,” Garcia said. “It felt good as far as the stage where we were, the momentum we had and just it was the right thing.

“I kind of went with my gut.”

▪ The QB Club’s next meeting will be Tuesday, Sept. 6, because of the Labor Day holiday. The club usually meets each Monday at Coach’s Corner, 950 Oakdale Road, Suite E. Lunch is $10, and the public is encouraged to attend.

▪ Former Central Catholic coach Mike Glines, sitting in for current coach Roger Canepa, told the club he would not make the trip to Southern California for the Raiders’ Thursday game against Cathedral Catholic-San Diego in Mission Viejo.

Glines plans to stick around so he can watch his alma mater, Crater of Central Point, Ore., take on Oakdale on Friday night.

Glines was a football, basketball and baseball standout for the Comets.

This story was originally published August 29, 2016 at 5:10 PM with the headline "Downey football coach says Friday’s loss can be a positive."