Flames fend off Wolf Pack for first TCAL win

Late surge by the Wolf Pack gives Lodi a scare, but Flames hold on

TRACY — Lodi High football coach Robert Sperling has been preaching to his team about finishing offensive drives.

Three Flame running backs heard and responded, and spurred Lodi to its first Tri-City Athletic League win of the season, a 26-14 victory against a never-quit West squad at Steve Lopez Stadium on Friday.

Lodi (1-2 in the TCAL, 4-4 overall) scored half of its touchdowns in the first quarter. The first came on a lengthy drive that started deep in the Flames’ own territory, and finished by fullback Cole Brooks, who scored on a 20-yard run for a 6-0 lead.

After West (0-3 in the TCAL, 1-7) and the Flames traded offensive possessions later in the opening quarter, Lodi found the end zone again, thanks to another long offensive possession that started on its own 10-yard line. Taking the handoff from quarterback Logan Stout, Brooks scored his second touchdown of the game on a counter play of 3 yards with 2:38 left. The 2point conversion was no good but gave the Flames a 12-0 lead.

“He was running the ball hard,” said Sperling of Brooks.

Brooks, who was starting place of an injured Alfredo Estrada, went down after being hit after a carry on the Flames’ next offensive possession, and missed the rest of the game. But the Flames’ other bruiser in Larry McDowell, a junior who was nursing a sprained ankle injury sustained against Lincoln last week, came in to split duties with wingback Trey Reese.

“We were on our third fullback,” Sperling said. “He (McDowell) played on a bad ankle, and played his butt off.”

The Flames’ defense gave the offense the ball again for a score in the second quarter. West marched down the field from its own 30 to the Lodi 34. But on 4th down and 7, a Wolf Pack running back’s hopes of big yards turned up short by six yards, turning the ball over to the Flames.

“Defensively we played well,” Sperling said.

To cap an eight play, 65-yard drive,

Stout rolled out of the pocket, looked down the field and found wide receiver Angelo Zazzarino for a 16-yard touchdown with two seconds left in the quarter. The 2-point run failed for the Flames, leaving them with a 20-0 halftime lead.

“They did a great job in finishing,” Sperling said. “Did a very good job in sustaining drives.”

The Flames scored their final touchdown with 12 seconds left in the third quarter, thanks to another lengthy offensive drive that started at their own 25. Stout took the snap and bulldozed his way into the end zone on a 1-yard quarterback keeper. Going for another 2-pointer, the Flames saw the pass go incomplete, but still led 26-0.

Then West made the game interesting in the final 12 minutes. After receiving the kick-off following Lodi’s final score, West quarterback Yannick Reffell threw a 71-yard touchdown to wide receiver Eric Robertson, who caught the ball over his right shoulder, and rocketed toward the Wolf Pack’s end zone with 11:10 remaining for a 26-6.

Looking to gain another offensive possession, the Wolf Pack did just that on the kick-off. The ball took a funny bounce on the turf, touching a Lodi player and ricocheting into West’s possession. But the Flames’ defense held the line, forcing the Wolf Pack to turn the ball over on loss of downs at the Lodi 29.

But the really true blemish on the Flames’ offense this night was on the first play after the turnover. A fumble led to a West recovery, and eight plays later, Reffell found tight end Ezqiuel Prado on a 7-yard pass with 6:44 in the game. Going for the extra-point, Reffell, who was the placeholder, took the snap, turned to his left and rolled out to find wide receiver Ethan Casados for the 2point conversion, making it 26-14.

“The ball bounces funky ways sometimes,” Sperling said.

West attempted another onside kick, but the Flames’ Anthony Alejandrez recovered the onside kick. Lodi turned the ball over on downs, but got the ball back when free safety Jake Hayes intercepted a Reffell pass at midfield with three minutes left in the game. The Flames moved the ball to the West 34, as they killed time off the clock to record the win.

“We did a lot of good things,” Sperling said.