Prep football roundup: Downey pulls off postseason upset, SAL teams dominate in first round
A pair of blowouts in Division VII and a huge upset in Division II highlighted the weekend for Stanislaus District high school football teams.
The first week of the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Football Championships is officially in the books and Downey High showed the section what its defense is capable of. The Knights forced run-first Tracy High into four turnovers and capitalized. After sitting out the season finale against Gregori with an injury, Joseph Ramirez had rushing and receiving touchdowns. Two Knights had 10 or more tackles and two had three tackles for loss in the upset win.
Ripon Christian and Orestimba continued to flex their muscles against other small schools. The duo out of the Southern League scored a combined 117 points and allowed just seven in the pair of first round wins in the D-VIIA bracket.
Every team still alive plays this coming Friday as the top four seeds in Divisions I-VI take the field after first-round byes. Here is a deeper dive into what happened in Friday’s games as well as a schedule for the next round.
Division I
Edison-Stockton 48, Gregori 6: Gregori scored its only points of the game in the first half courtesy of a 17-yard catch and run from Michael Marsden. The Vikings scored 34 unanswered second half points to break the game open. Gregori finishes the season 7-4.
Division II
Downey 27, Tracy 10: After a drama-filled week leading up to Downey’s matchup with Tracy, the Knights played inspired football Friday night. Downey on paper got back the win over the Bulldogs when it was discovered that they played ineligible players but Tracy was still given a first round home game. The defense came away with two interceptions and forced two fumbles, recovering two. Jeremy Skeen finished with 16 total tackles and Antwain Harper added 10. Ryne Moore and Ismael Lopez each had three tackles for loss. Lopez led the team with two sacks. The Knights will once again hit the road to play No. 2 Rocklin Friday.
Division V
Pioneer 35, Ceres 14: The Bulldogs gave up 143 rushing yards and a pair of touchdowns to Pioneer’s Landon Dahler in the 21 point loss. Prince Flores also rushed for a pair of scores on just four carries. The Bulldogs turned the ball over twice, finishing with one fumble and an interception.
Division VII-A
Ripon Christian 63, Golden Sierra 0: Ripon Christian’s defense continued to dominate as the Knights shut out their fourth straight opponent. The Knights have won 10 straight games and are allowing less than eight points a game over the season. Trevor Van Elderen, Brady Grondz and Grant Sonke each rushed for two touchdowns. They advanced to the Division VII-A semifinals where they will host Rio Vista.
Orestimba 54, Highlands 7: The Warriors put up more than 50 points for the second time this season Friday night. Juan Esquivez rushed for 116 yards and five touchdowns on just seven carries. Quarterback Jacob Valenzuela’s only completion was a 27-yard touchdown pass to Devon Bell.
Playoffs Round 2 Schedule
Division I
No. 6 Turlock at No. 3 Oak Ridge
No. 7 Edison at No. 2 Central Catholic
Division II
No. 10 Downey at No. 2 Rocklin
Division III
No. 5 Merced at No. 4 Oakdale
Division IV
No. 9 Sacramento at No. 1 Escalon
No. 6 Kimball at No. 3 Patterson
Division V
No. 6 Pioneer at No. 3 Hilmar
Division VI
No. 5 Colfax at No. 4 Hughson
Division VII
No. 4A Rio Vista at No. 1A Ripon Christian
No. 3A Le Grand at No. 2A Oresbimba
