IN SPORTS: ROUGH NIGHT FOR LOCAL FOOTBALL TEAMS
Tokay High football coach Michael Holst has talked about his team finding consistency on offense this season.
But Tracy the consistent one in moving the ball in Friday’s Tri-City Athletic League opener for both teams at the Grape Bowl. That led to the Bulldogs spoiling the Tigers’ homecoming game with a 69-6 win.
In its first two offensive possessions, and back deep in its own side of the field, in the first quarter, Tokay (0-1 in the TCAL, 0-6) gained a combined two yards on six plays. But on their third possession, the Tigers found room to run behind fullback Nathan Branco, who gained 30 yards on four carries. But in six plays, Tokay, which started the drive from its own 17 yard line, saw it stall at its own 44 that led to its third punt.
“He did what he normally does,” said Holst of Branco. “We wanted to start the (game) on offense today. We have to be more consistent in putting drives together, trading better field position for ourselves.”
As the Tigers continued to struggle throughout the game in finding rhythm in moving the ball, Tracy (1-0 in the TCAL, 4-2) already led 130. Bulldog quarterback Logan Fife fired a 13-yard pass to Trevion Shadrick-Harris with 9:34 in the opening quarter to account for the first score.
Then more than two minutes later, Tracy running back Elias Williams scored on a 1-yard run to make it 130. Williams also caught a 74yard pass from Fife on the Bulldogs’ third possession to have the scoreboard read 200.
On its fifth offensive opportunity on the night, Tokay found some more success in moving the ball, thanks largely to wide receiver Joseph Filippini gaining 23 yards on a punt return that spotted the ball at the Tiger 30. Branco gained 11 yards rushing, and quarterback Jacob Varney completed a 3-yard pass to halfback Jacob Schneider.
But the Tigers’ optimism of moving the markers stalled — again — at their own 38. Tokay did not get into the Bulldogs’ territory until the third quarter.
Tracy scored four touchdowns in the second quarter to build a 47-0 halftime lead. Williams scored on a 3-yard run. The second touchdown came when Fife, who scrambled when it looked like the Tigers’ defense was going to sack him, found an open Trevor Pope II, who caught the pass for a 53-yard score and made it 34-0.
One of the Bulldogs’ next two touchdowns came on defense. From his defensive tackle spot, the Bulldogs’ Angelo Ortega tipped a Varney pass, caught it and ran it back 23 yards to make it 41-0. Williams capped the scoring in the quarter with his second touchdown in the quarter, and third at this point of the game, on a 53-yard run, now making it 47-0.
The Bulldogs scored their final touchdowns of the night with only 28 seconds between the scores in the third quarter. At 10:01, Fife hit Blake Vollbrecht on a 15-yard touchdown. Then the Tigers fumbled the ball on the kickoff return, giving the Bulldogs the recovery at the Tiger 3. On the first play after the recovery, Nathanael Stroup scored on a 3-yard run for a 61-0 score with 9:33 left in the quarter.
Tokay scored its only touchdown late in the fourth quarter, which happened after Tracy made it 69-0 when back-up quarterback Zack Pedigo tossed a 10-yard pass to Riley Revino. Now in the Tigers’ backfield, Filippini took the ball from Varney on an offtackle play and dragged two Tracy players into the end zone to complete a 20-yard run. The Tigers’ two-point conversion, a run, failed.
“We’ve got four games left, we just have to keep working,” Holst said.
Branco had 69 yards on 20 carries for the Tigers.
In two of its five pre-season game, Tokay scored on its first offensive drives. But those two games against McNair two weeks ago and Patterson in the Week 0 opener on Aug. 17 went against Tokay.
The junior varsity game had Tracy defeating Tokay 578.