Gregori plays in the first slate of Sac-Joaquin Section Thursday night competitions this week, facing Merced and dual-threat quarterback Quintell Dupree. The Jaguars are looking for a 2-0 start after coming off a dominant win over Buhach Colony in Week 1. The always entertaining Holy Bowl featuring Central Catholic and St. Mary’s is also this week. The Raiders look to right the ship against the Rams after losing the past two seasons.
Downey and Turlock also play key games this week. The Knights host a home opener while the Bulldogs and Tigers hit the road in search of Week 2 victories.
Here’s a deeper look at the key matchups this week:
Thursday
Merced (0-1) at Gregori (1-0), 7 p.m.
The first slate of Thursday night games features a key nonleague matchup between Gregori and Merced. A win in the matchup between perennial playoff teams could be big when the end of the season comes and the Sac-Joaquin Section seeds teams in their respective brackets. A pair of rushing threats take center stage. Gregori features running back Alton Williams, who went for 210 yards on the ground and had a 52 yard receiving touchdown in a dominant win over Buhach Colony. Merced coach Rob Scheidt calls quarterback Quintell Dupree “one of the best athletes in the area” and he showed it, breaking open a 59-yard run on the first play of the season opener against Patterson. Gregori’s signal caller, senior Emmanuel Vasquez, started his first varsity season opener at quarterback last week and tossed seven completions — six that went for touchdowns.
Friday
Elk Grove (0-1) at Downey (1-0), 7 p.m.
Downey coach Jeremy Plaa scheduled teams like Oak Ridge to help prepare them for the playoffs. Friday, the Knights will take on their second perennial postseason qualifier in as many weeks after beating Lincoln last week. Plaa said the team learned a lot after its Week 1 win, especially that its special teams need to improve. Despite blocking a pair of punts, the Knights had two of their own punts blocked. They also learned their defense will likely once again be one of the CCAL’s best. They held Fresno State-bound running back Jordin Thomas under 100 rushing yards (though he did score three touchdowns), and Francisco Diaz and Elias Haynes combined for the game-clinching stop on fourth down. Plaa said he knows the Knights will “have our hands full” against Elk Grove, a team he believes is better than the numbers from its loss to Manteca might indicate.
St. Mary’s (0-1) at Central Catholic (1-0), 7 p.m.
The 2024 edition of the Holy Bowl features a young Central Catholic side facing a St. Mary’s outfit with tons of speed in Kenneth Moore III and Osani Gayles and a spread offense that’s among the best in the section. The Raiders should enter the week with confidence, after squeaking out a Week 1 win over Pleasant Valley on the road, 28-21. Kayden McHenry scored a late touchdown that everyone thought was the clincher, but Pleasant Valley made it interesting, returning the ensuing kickoff to cut a 14-point lead to seven. The Raiders recovered the onside kick to seal the win. The Raiders are looking to overcome a two-game Holy Bowl skid, losing 47-7 at home in 2022 and 42-33 last season on the road. Their last win came in 2021 in a 41-27 road win. The past five games have been high-scoring. The Raiders will have to deal with a hungry Rams squad coming off a narrow loss to Bishop Manogue of Nevada. The winner has been the team that held its opponent under 40 points.
Turlock (0-1) at Tracy (1-0), 7 p.m.
The “Battle of the Bone” pits the Turlock Bulldogs against the Tracy Bulldogs on Friday night in Tracy. Since 2014, both sides are even, each winning four games, but Turlock has beaten Tracy in their last two matchups. Turlock won 28-17 in 2018 and 43-14 in 2019. Turlock is competing with the quarterback that will lead it for the next four seasons. There haven’t been many underclassmen to start at quarterback in the history of Turlock football. There have been even fewer freshmen. Scout Silva is one of them. The ninth-grader had Turlock ahead on Rocklin in last week’s season opener. In the game, he completed 20 of 29 passes for 237 yards and two touchdowns. Turlock ran out of gas in the second half, falling 41-28, but opened some eyes. It welcomes a Tracy team that won 47-6 last week against West of Tracy. Junior quarterback Juan Godoy threw three touchdown passes for Tracy.
Patterson (1-0) at California-San Ramon (0-0), 7 p.m.
After a dominant win over Merced in Week 1, the Tigers don’t get any breaks. Patterson travels to San Ramon to take on MaxPreps’ 13th-ranked team in the North Coast Section for the first ever recorded matchup between the Tigers and Bears. Max Medina broke the school’s touchdown passes record, Noah Cozart had over 150 receiving yards and three touchdowns with an interception, and Jeremiah Lugo rushed for 195 yards with three touchdowns and had an interception in the Week 1 win. California High opens its season Friday after finishing fourth in the East Bay-Mountain League and advancing to the semifinals of the NCS Division I playoffs. It will be a good test for the Tigers, who are looking to advance back to the Division IV section title game.
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