Tracy dominates SJAA with 10-0 finish
Nov 13, 2009 | 1509 views | 1 
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The Tracy High varsity football team became the undisputed San Joaquin Athletic Association champions as they finished the season undefeated with a 52-7 win over the Lodi Flames on Friday at Wayne Schneider Stadium.
The league championship gives Tracy the home-field advantage when the Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs begin next week, and the Bulldogs' 10-0 record — the first undefeated regular season for Tracy since 1986 —makes Tracy the top Division I team in the section, which gives the Bulldogs home-field advantage all the way through the playoffs.
Round one will be against Enochs, 4-6, of the Modesto Metro Conference, on Friday, Nov. 20, at Wayne Schneider Stadium.
Junior quarterback Casey Wichman said the team went into Friday knowing that Lodi is usually one of the tougher teams in the SJAA and still had a chance to create a three-way tie with Tracy and Lincoln for first place in the league. So the Bulldogs had to go in full-force.
“After the first couple of drives we knew we’d keep playing the way we needed to. Everything that we did worked,” he said, adding that the Tracy team was fired up from the start.
“We were a lot more excited for tonight because we knew that everything was on the line. I think when we finally came out and played we were just ready.”
Senior defensive lineman Kevin Speer said the team just needs to keep meeting its goals.
“This whole year we’ve been expecting this. We knew we were going more than 10 games,” he said. “This year we’ve been ready to go the whole way.”
Head coach Mark Stroup said aggressive play of both sides of the ball gave Tracy the advantage over the Lodi team.
“Defensively we did a super job on their running backs, and the offense has been a machine all year,” he said. “We couldn’t have played much better than in that first half.”
“We’ve got to start our second season now. That’s how we’ve got to treat it,” he added. “I thought our kids got a nice little tuneup for next week.”
Tracy had control of Friday’s game from beginning to end. It took the Bulldogs only 32 seconds to score after the opening kickoff, as Wichman's 40-yard dash into the end zone followed a 23-yard run by Jordan Strong.
Wichman led another drive in the first quarter with a 26-yard run to get the Bulldogs close enough for Max Garrigan to kick a 29-yard field goal.
Tracy got the ball back after Ricky Diaz’s sack on Lodi quarterback Collin Rhodes, and then got the ball to Depray Celestine, who ran it 69 yards up the left side for a touchdown.
On the following kickoff, Garrigan sent the ball all the way back to the Lodi 2-yard line. Three plays later, Tracy lineman Kevin Speer sacked Rhoads for a safety, putting Tracy up 18-0 at the start of the second quarter.
Lodi put up some strong defense on Tracy's next drive, but the Bulldogs came back from third-and-23 to get the first down. Wichman finished the drive with a 3-yard touchdown run.
After another three-and-out series for Lodi, Celestine picked up the punt on the Tracy 21-yard line. The next play was a repeat of a touchdown play that worked against Franklin, as Celestine launched a pass to Jordan Williams for a 73-yard touchdown.
In a game where most yards were gained on the ground, this was the type of play that has kept Tracy’s opponents off-balance.
“They’re all keying in on (Celestine), so he gets me open for those passes,” Williams said. Garrigan's kick made it 31-0 at the half.
Tracy scored midway through the third quarter on a Wichman 16-yard touchdown run, and Tracy ran another extended drive in the third, including a 29-yard run from Celestine and a 24-yard run from Wichman, capped by a 5-yard touchdown run from Jordan Strong. Garrigan's kick made it a 45-0 game.
Tracy started the fourth quarter with Williams' 53-yard touchdown run up the right side, and Garrigan made the kick for a 52-0 lead.
Lodi finally got on the scoreboard on the next series when Rhodes got away on a 63-yard quarterback keeper.
Lodi got another break on a Tracy fumble, but Tracy got the ball right back when Devon Hartenstein intercepted a Rhodes pass on the Tracy 21-yard line. Tracy made a long drive to run out the clock and seal the 52-7 win.
The league championship gives Tracy the home-field advantage when the Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs begin next week, and the Bulldogs' 10-0 record — the first undefeated regular season for Tracy since 1986 —makes Tracy the top Division I team in the section, which gives the Bulldogs home-field advantage all the way through the playoffs.
Round one will be against Enochs, 4-6, of the Modesto Metro Conference, on Friday, Nov. 20, at Wayne Schneider Stadium.
Junior quarterback Casey Wichman said the team went into Friday knowing that Lodi is usually one of the tougher teams in the SJAA and still had a chance to create a three-way tie with Tracy and Lincoln for first place in the league. So the Bulldogs had to go in full-force.
“After the first couple of drives we knew we’d keep playing the way we needed to. Everything that we did worked,” he said, adding that the Tracy team was fired up from the start.
“We were a lot more excited for tonight because we knew that everything was on the line. I think when we finally came out and played we were just ready.”
Senior defensive lineman Kevin Speer said the team just needs to keep meeting its goals.
“This whole year we’ve been expecting this. We knew we were going more than 10 games,” he said. “This year we’ve been ready to go the whole way.”
Head coach Mark Stroup said aggressive play of both sides of the ball gave Tracy the advantage over the Lodi team.
“Defensively we did a super job on their running backs, and the offense has been a machine all year,” he said. “We couldn’t have played much better than in that first half.”
“We’ve got to start our second season now. That’s how we’ve got to treat it,” he added. “I thought our kids got a nice little tuneup for next week.”
Tracy had control of Friday’s game from beginning to end. It took the Bulldogs only 32 seconds to score after the opening kickoff, as Wichman's 40-yard dash into the end zone followed a 23-yard run by Jordan Strong.
Wichman led another drive in the first quarter with a 26-yard run to get the Bulldogs close enough for Max Garrigan to kick a 29-yard field goal.
Tracy got the ball back after Ricky Diaz’s sack on Lodi quarterback Collin Rhodes, and then got the ball to Depray Celestine, who ran it 69 yards up the left side for a touchdown.
On the following kickoff, Garrigan sent the ball all the way back to the Lodi 2-yard line. Three plays later, Tracy lineman Kevin Speer sacked Rhoads for a safety, putting Tracy up 18-0 at the start of the second quarter.
Lodi put up some strong defense on Tracy's next drive, but the Bulldogs came back from third-and-23 to get the first down. Wichman finished the drive with a 3-yard touchdown run.
After another three-and-out series for Lodi, Celestine picked up the punt on the Tracy 21-yard line. The next play was a repeat of a touchdown play that worked against Franklin, as Celestine launched a pass to Jordan Williams for a 73-yard touchdown.
In a game where most yards were gained on the ground, this was the type of play that has kept Tracy’s opponents off-balance.
“They’re all keying in on (Celestine), so he gets me open for those passes,” Williams said. Garrigan's kick made it 31-0 at the half.
Tracy scored midway through the third quarter on a Wichman 16-yard touchdown run, and Tracy ran another extended drive in the third, including a 29-yard run from Celestine and a 24-yard run from Wichman, capped by a 5-yard touchdown run from Jordan Strong. Garrigan's kick made it a 45-0 game.
Tracy started the fourth quarter with Williams' 53-yard touchdown run up the right side, and Garrigan made the kick for a 52-0 lead.
Lodi finally got on the scoreboard on the next series when Rhodes got away on a 63-yard quarterback keeper.
Lodi got another break on a Tracy fumble, but Tracy got the ball right back when Devon Hartenstein intercepted a Rhodes pass on the Tracy 21-yard line. Tracy made a long drive to run out the clock and seal the 52-7 win.
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« tracyhighsports wrote on Saturday, Nov 14 at 12:45 AM »
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