Local teams reflect on season, and the future

On Thursday, the SacJoaquin Section football playoffs started with a Division I game between No. 10 Davis of Davis at No. 7 Pitman of Turlock.

Today, the rest of the D-I, plus Divisions II through VII, continue the first round. The top four teams in each division have byes.

And, for a second consecutive year, none of the four Lodiarea high school football teams advanced into the playoffs.

The four schools — Lodi, Tokay, Galt and Liberty Ranch — had a combined record of 11-29. Lodi went 3-7 overall and 2-3 in the Tri-City Athletic League. Tokay was 0-5 in the TCAL and 0-10. Galt and Liberty Ranch went 4-6 each; Galt went 0-5 in the Sierra Valley Conference and Liberty Ranch 2-3 in the SVC.

The 2016 Liberty Ranch squad, which were tri-champions of the SVC with El Dorado and Cordova, was the last Lodiarea team that extended its regular season. Placer grounded the Hawks 42-21 on the Hillmen’s field in Auburn in the first round of the D-IV playoffs that year, ending Liberty Ranch’s season with an 8-3 overall record.

The four area high school football head coaches reflected on this season, and also talked about moving forward in preparing for the 2019 season.

Lodi

In his first year as head coach, Lodi’s George Duenas had the “what if ” thoughts.

What if Lodi had won its three close losses, finished at 6-4 and was preparing for a playoff game this week? Lodi lost three games by eight points or less; Chavez 36-28, Stagg 41-37 and Bear Creek 4035. Lodi went 1-4 in preseason.

“We all knew there was a play here and there that would have switched those games in our favor,” Duenas said.

Learning new offensive, defensive and special teams’ schemes was challenging for the Flames. But as the season progressed, so did the Flames’ confidence.

“With it being my first year, and the kids learning a new system, the kids really improved throughout the year,” Duenas said.

Lodi won two of its last three games, which included the 46th meeting against cross-town rival Tokay with a 42-8 score.

Players who showed significant improvements throughout the season, according to Duenas, were junior quarterback Logan Stout and sophomores tight end/linebacker Isaac Bishop and offensive/defensive linemen Gabe Biogoni. The trio are part of the 11 players projected to return next season.

The Lodi junior varsity football team went 7-3 and the freshmen squad posted an 8-2 record. More reasons for Flame football fans to be excited for upcoming seasons.

“We had multiple players show some growth,” Duenas said. “The junior class as a whole stepped into a leadership role toward the end of the season. I’m really excited for the upcoming season, since a lot of those kids will be returning next year.”

Tokay

In its 10 games, Tokay averaged 11.1 points per game on offense. The defense gave up 53.3 points per game.

“We may not have had tangible proof that we improved, but a lot of guys got experience this year far beyond their years,” said Tokay coach Michael Holst.

Players who stood out in Holst’s mind were sophomores in quarterback/wide receiver/defensive back Chase Howell, who played receiver last year and went back to the position after suffering an ankle injury as quarterback earlier this year; sophomores in running back/wide receiver/safety Joseph Filippini and quarterback Jacob Varney, who was moved to varsity from the JV team during pre-season. Other Tiger players who contributed were linemen Ian Lerner, Dylan Previtali and Angel Reyes.

There’s good and bad news for the Tigers entering the 2019 season.

First, Tokay will get to play its first home game on its oncampus stadium that has artificial turf. The bad news is Tokay will enter the season on a 10-game losing skid. The Tigers will open the season at Patterson and Bear Creek before hosting Stagg.

Galt

At one point, Galt was 4-1 and looked like it could contend in the SVC. But injuries hit the Warriors at the worst time — entering conference play.

“I feel as a team, we really became tighter as a family and worked really hard through out the entire season,” said first-year Galt coach Tim Cobleigh.

Warrior quarterback Robert Bulahan Jr., a junior who started as a sophomore last year, completed 122 of 230 passes for 1,533 yards, 20 touchdowns and nine interceptions. Jonah Delrio rushed for 701 yards. Marcelo Lopez, also a junior, had 501 yards receiving and 10 touchdowns.

There were 12 juniors and one sophomore — lineman Mario Paredes — on the Warriors’ 33-player roster.

Cobleigh said that there will be changes in the Warriors’ pre-season schedule next season. Galt will still play Linden, Valley and Mira Loma, both of Sacramento, in pre-season. But Galt has dropped Franklin, and is looking for a Week 1 and 5 non-league games.

Next year, Warrior Stadium, which was built in 1965, is expected to be ready. The renovated stadium will have an all-turf field, all-weather track, new home and visitor stands, new press box and refurbished bathrooms and snack bar.

Liberty Ranch

The pre-season was a different story for the Hawks.

After winning its season opener over Johnson of Sacramento 47-0 at Hawk Stadium, the school’s on-campus stadium, Liberty Ranch lost three of its next four games.

Once SVC action started, the Hawks showed signs of consistency on both sides of the ball most times. Then in its conference finale against Galt, the Hawks posted a 35-17 win.

“We played our most consistent game all season in our finale,” said Liberty Ranch coach Anthony Linebaugh. “It is tough to end the season because have made significant progress over the last few weeks with respect to being more consistent in all phase.”

Linebaugh felt that the Hawks played better once conference play started.

“League season was truly a roller coaster,” Linebaugh said. “It is tough but we look to the future in a positive light.”

Liberty Ranch and Galt’s junior varsity teams finished with 7-2 and 5-3-2 records, respectively.

One of the consistent parts for the Hawks was running back Gabriel Nino rushed for 1,035 yards on 115 carries. He finished with a combined 1,519 all-purpose yards that included kickoff and punt returns.

Liberty Ranch quarterback Matthew Hopper. The senior passed for 682 yards and rushed for 609 yards. He scored a combined 16 touchdowns.